


Raiding HYDRA-Bases, Raising Children and other fun free time activities ( or how to gracefully cope with anything)

by danield1302



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:01:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24505102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danield1302/pseuds/danield1302
Summary: Bucky was just beginning to settle in. He was (more or less) fine, he could cope gracefully with his crush on Steve and blow up HYDRA-Bases and get paid for it. He even got used to the aliens and weird science experiments running around and causing trouble. He just needed to use bigger explosives. What he didn’t expect was finding another cryochamber with a teen inside that insists that he’s his son. His and Steve’s. What has his life turned into.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Peter Parker/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 33





	1. How to gracefully cope with a crush

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. This is my first time writing....well anything, so feel free to leave constructive critisicm. English is also not my native language so i might get figures of speech and such wrong, so bear with me. Anyways, really excited to write a Stucky fic since i've always loved reading those, hope you enjoy. I'll be uploading the chapters as soon as i finish writing them.

Another day, another HYDRA-Base. With how often they took care of them the number had to be depleted quite a lot already, but it sure didn’t seem like it with how often they had to move out. Still, any day where he could blow up HYDRA-Bases was a good day in Bucky’s books. Getting back to a stable state of mind had taken a lot of time and put a lot of stress on all of the people involved. Not just him, Steve too. He even ended up compromising with the people that put the Accords in place. He didn’t sign them, but he stopped fighting them. Which was about the same, as far as the public was concerned. And having Captain America on their side was too big of a publicity merit to keep fighting him on it. Especially when they got both him and the Winter Soldier back on active duty. Things with Tony were still frosty. Both men were too proud to apologize and Bucky just wanted to stay out of the mess. Steve seemed to miss him though. ‘’Get the parachutes ready, we’ll be arriving in 10’’ Clint shouted from the front. Bucky snapped out of his trance. He had work to do now. Steve bent over to grab his chute from under his seat and Bucky’s eyes went straight to his ass. He thought he was rather subtle, but Natasha’s smirk told him she had noticed right away. Damn this woman, she was way too perceptive for her own good. He scowled at her. Of course, at this moment Steve turned around and looked at him questioningly.  
‘’Everything okay?’’ he asked.  
‘’Yeah, he was just…focussing’’ Nat said.  
‘’Are you okay? You don’t have to do that you know? You can just sit this one out if you don’t feel well, me and the team can handle it. It’s okay to take it easy you know. Noones forcing you to-‘’  
‘’God Steve! I’m fine! Stop fussing!’’ Bucky shouted with a glare to Nat.  
‘’I just don’t-‘’  
‘’I know. Let’s do this and go home.’’  
‘’Okay.’’  
Nat’s smirk had widened to a grin during their exchange. He had to pay her back for that. Maybe raid her hidden sweet supply. Although she would probably kill him for that. He’d just…raid it slowly. Like one chocolate bar at a time. That will show her. His resolve steeled, he strapped on his parachute and walked past her without a second look.  
She whistled when he walked past. He turned around and saw Steve blush while she smirked again. But damn, the captain blushed prettily. Ugh, he really needed to get over this crush. It was getting pathetic.  
‘’Everything okay back there?’’  
‘’Oh, everything is more than okay back there’’  
‘’Oh my God Nat!’’ Steve exclaimed.  
‘’What! Did you see his ass?’’  
‘’Yeah Steve’’, Bucky smirked, ‘’ Did you see my ass?’’  
‘’I-‘’ he just walked past them while blushing red as a tomato.  
‘’That wasn’t nice’’  
‘’No one forced you to join in. Also, you love to see him blush, don’t deny it.’’  
He just grunted in reply and followed Steve, who already opened the hatch. Time to jump. At least he could stare at that ass all he wanted on the way down without Nat knowing. Oh, who was he kidding. Of course, she’d know. She always did.


	2. How to gracefully cope with violence

Looking back, he should have seen it coming. It was too easy. Nothing in his life was easy. Bucky snapped another Hydra goons’ neck with his metal hand. At least Steve didn’t reprimand him for that. He knew, if he were anyone else, he’d be listening to a speech about unnecessary violence. One shot in the head, a knife to the throat and two more were bleeding out on the ground. But damn, he needed to be more careful. Last time he had to go to Tony to help clean out the blood from his metal arm because it somehow got inside was…not pretty to say the least. Tony just kept his judgemental glare on the whole time, like Bucky had made it his personal mission to affront him whenever possible. But no matter what his therapist said, this was a great coping mechanism. They scrambled his brain, so he scattered theirs. That’s just Karma after all right? He’d ask Steve but he would probably be horrified. Maybe he should ask Nat? She would understand. Probably. Another 3 shots, another 2 slashes. 5 more bodies on the floor.  
‘’Winter Soldier, Status update?’’  
‘’I’m reaching some sort of lab. Heavily guarded. 20 of them or so’’  
‘’Do you need backup?’’  
Bucky looked back at the hallway behind him, littered with bodies and blood.  
‘’No, I got it handled already. Gonna check on what they were trying to hide and meet up later’’  
‘’Got it’’  
He entered the lab. The giant computer inside the room was smashed. Someone really didn’t want the data to be found. Interesting. He looked around again. For anyone else it would look like the room was empty, but Bucky had spent enough time in HYDRA-Bases to know which rooms had hidden compartments. He tried a few tile codes from other bases. He knew most of them. It was a safety risk to standardize them but they had to, in case all residents of a base were wiped out and no one would know the code. After the third try it worked. It was always the same wall, just a different combination of tiles to press. The wall slid back and revealed a cryo-chamber. Inside was boy. Around 16, Bucky guessed. Blue eyes and brown hair. Height around 5’7’’.  
‘’I found someone.’’  
‘’You mean something.’’  
‘’I mean what I said. There’s a cryo-chamber here.’’  
‘’Send us your location, we’ll be there asap.’’

He knew he should wait for them. They should decide together what to do. But the boy lying in there…it was bringing back memories. None of them good. He hit defrost.


	3. How to gracefully cope with meeting new people

Steve still didn’t talk to him. He didn’t know if it was because of what he did in the hallway or because he just defrosted that boy without talking to anyone. Oh well. At least angry Steve was hot. Although he’d like it more if he was angry at literally anyone else. Like Tony. There was always a reason to be mad at Tony. To be fair, Bucky just didn’t like the guy much. But he blasted his arm off and almost killed both of them so who could fault him. Okay, he did kill the guys’ parents. He even felt bad about it. But anyone that hurt his Stevie was an asshole in his books. No matter the reason. Okay, yeah, he was holding a grudge. Whatever. He wasn’t even allowed to think in HYDRA, let alone hold grudges. He’d just tell that to anyone who’d say something and they’d lay off. Yep, great plan. Another problem solved. He mentally high-fived himself. Nat was looking at him again like she knew something. That woman creeped him out sometimes. Even if she was one of the few, he could talk about anything. Well, almost anything because when he tried to talk to her about the freeing effects spraying a bad guys brains to the walls had she just looked at him judgementally. Like she wasn’t an assassin and had done this countless times too. She threw a shoe at him when he told her that much though, he blocked it with his metal arm. That thing almost hit his face and could have scarred him for life. When he told her that much, she just laughed at him and called him a baby. Rude. 

So, back to the problem at hand. The boy. Who woke up but hasn’t talked ever since. Just looked at them like they were a very interesting exhibit at the zoo. Which frankly was pissing Bucky off but he wasn’t about to fight a 16-year old. Even if he was a very rude one. He should have gone to the shooting range; he was itching to shoot something. But then Steve would be all judgy again. Ugh. He was great at coping; he just needed some weapons or things to blow up. Why couldn’t anyone see that?  
‘’Or maybe, you could just tell him you have a crush of him. That would take of the edge even better’’  
He let out a manly squeak.  
‘’Wanda! Stop reading my mind!’’  
‘’ You’re way too obvious for me to have to do that. Your trigger finger is twitching and you’re staring at Steve’s ass again. Which means you’re frustrated and want to shoot something. Or, I guess, shoot into someone?’’  
She cackled at his indignant squawk, while he blushed a bright red. Scarlet Witch for sure. That’s probably how she got her name. Why did everyone feel the need to tease him today?  
‘’Because you’re too easy, soldier boy!’’  
‘’ I SAID STOP READING MY MIND!’’  
Her grin just turned into another cackle. A witch. What a fitting name. That woman was pure evil.  
Meanwhile on the other side of the glass, in the medical room, the boy apparently said something to Steve who looked taken aback. He turned around, slightly panicked and walked out to Bucky.  
‘’He’s asking for you’’.  
‘’He’s what?’’  
‘’Asking for you. Like ‘I want to talk to the guy that defrosted me’.’’  
‘’Lie to him and say it was you’’  
‘’Bucky!’’  
‘’I’m not good with children.’’  
‘’Excuse me?’’  
‘’I know what you’re trying to say but that was before the war. My hands are too bloody now’’  
‘’I know you’re just saying that so I have pity on you and don’t force you to talk to him. Which might have worked on Clint or Bruce but I can read you pretty well by now. You just don’t want to.’’  
‘’C’mon Stevie’’, he whined. ‘’Don’t make me.’’  
‘’What am I, the dad to a bratty teen? Just go in and talk to him. My god. Do you want me to buy you ice cream after?’’  
‘’With extra whipped cream.’’  
‘’I- That was a joke!’’  
‘’…So, no ice cream?’’  
‘’Oh my god stop making puppy eyes. You’ll get your ice cream. Can you just go in and talk to him now?’’  
Bucky just strutted past him into the room, making his best Winter Soldier expression.  
‘’You wanted to see me?’’  
‘’You look just like the photos. They talked a lot about you. They wanted us to be like you. The perfect soldier.’’  
The words sent a shiver down his spine. The boy was so young still. Another HYDRA Asset at this age?  
The boy must have noticed, because his voice got kinder.  
‘’You are also very different from what they said. You’re a sweetheart, aren’t you?’’  
Bucky spluttered at that, not knowing what to say. He was a trained operative with a body count in the 4 or 5 digits and that kid called him a sweetheart?! He bet Steve was laughing at him right now. No way he wasn’t listening in. The traitor.  
‘’What did you want from me? There’s a reason you asked to talk to me specifically right?’’  
‘’Maybe I just wanted to bask in your presence.’’  
‘’Flattery will get you everywhere with me.’’  
The boy smirked. ‘’I figured.’’  
‘’I found some files on you, when I was 8. It detailed everything they did to you. Every procedure. And the info about you. Who you were, how they got you. I knew then, that they lied to me. Lied to us all. Glad to see you got out.’’  
‘’Me too, kid. Do you have a name?’’  
‘’You’re the first one to ask that. The others were just asking ‘What’s your name’.’’  
‘’I didn’t want to assume. Chances are if you were raised there as an Asset you never got one.’’  
‘’You would be right with that assumption. They called me Phantom 1’’  
‘’Because you were a Ghost? You’d think they’d start developing a better naming sense after all these years.’’  
‘’Nah. They called their new missile system the ‘Destructor’. I wanted to shoot myself when I heard that’’  
Suddenly his earpiece activated. He completely forgot that was still in. He might have winced slightly but he was sure no one noticed. Probably.  
‘’You’re not there to make small talk Barnes. Find out what he knows and on whose side he is.’’  
Great. Tony in his ear. Just what he needed to sweeten his day. Maybe he should get someone to install a distress button in his arm. Because Tony in his ear definitely put him in distress. And right now, he couldn’t even tell Steve to get the guy away from the mic. Although, knowing Steve that would just end in another screaming match. Which they were all tired off frankly. Would be a different story if Bucky could take him to bed when he was all angry and calm him down. God, angry Steve got him going. Any Steve did really. He’d lie him out on the bed and-  
‘’You still with me?’’  
‘’Huh?’’  
‘’You just went away somewhere.’’  
‘’Oh uh, just dissociations. Happens sometimes. All the years with HYDRA, you know?’’  
The boy smiled at him sympathetically. Another point for the HYDRA excuse. At least he got a few positive things out of that nightmare. Like being back with Steve or getting people to do whatever he wants and having an excuse for everything. After all he was the only one who knew when he really forgot something or had a dissociative period and when he was just making excuses. Of course, Wanda noticed. But he was pretty sure she was reading his mind constantly. Like 90% sure. No way he was that obvious. Especially since no one else picked up on it.  
‘’You still haven’t answered my question you know?’’  
‘’Which one?’’  
‘’Why you wanted to see me.’’  
‘’Oh that. That’s an easy one. The thing is, you’re my biological dad’’  
‘’What?!’’  
‘’Well you and Steve’’  
‘’WHAT?!?!?’’  
At that Steve burst into the room. The boy just smiled at them, innocently.  
‘’Well then, hi dads’’


	4. How to gracefully cope with conversation starters

It was quite a thing to get used to having a son you didn’t know about, but Bucky liked to think he coped perfectly. Which means all his screaming and panicking was internal only. He thought that was progress in itself, considering it didn’t actually translate into outwards violence despite him really wanting to shoot something. A lot of somethings. Maybe starting with the HYDRA-Assholes that apparently used his DNA to create a child. A living, breathing human child that Bucky was responsible for now. That’s how parents worked right? Maybe he should just leave that part to Steve. Steve was as normal as a super soldier could be. He’d be a great parent. Bucky still had to cope with the aftermath of his extended stay with HYDRA. Extended Stay. Damn, he made it sound like a vacation. Better to take it with humour though. That and excessive violence got him through without banging his head against the wall after all. Screw his therapist, he was coping just fine. He was feeling peachy. Just perfect.

‘’Are you even listening?’’  
‘’Bucky?’’  
‘’Hey’’  
‘’Are you ignoring me?’’  
‘’BUCKY!’’  
‘’What?’’  
He looked around confusedly and saw Steve arching an eyebrow at him.  
‘’You with me again Buddy?’’  
‘’ Yeah, I… sorry’’  
‘’Sure. So, what are we gonna do about him?’’ He nodded towards the medical room where their self-proclaimed son was sitting on the bed. Bucky suddenly liked the one-way glass the medical room had instead of a 4th wall a lot less. Not just because he had to keep looking at the root of their new problem but because the kid had no idea he was being watched. And if that wasn’t creepy, he didn’t know what was.  
‘’Could we maybe close…?’’  
‘’Buck, we have to watch him. No one else is here to do that and we don’t know his agenda. Maybe the DNA Test will come back negative and the kid is just confused. Or maybe HYDRA lied to him. Wouldn’t be the first time.’’  
‘’Sure. How big do you think chances are any of that happened considering we found him in a cryochamber in a hidden compartment IN A MOTHERFUCKING HYDRA BASE STEVE?!’’

Oops. No more internal screaming only. And he was feeling so good about it.  
‘’I DON’T KNOW BUCK, YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY ONE FREAKING OUT HERE YOU KNOW?!’’  
‘’Sorry. I just. I didn’t expect that. Any of it. How would they even make a baby from two guys?’’  
‘’They didn’t’’, Bruce calmly stated. ‘’ The test results are back. Positive results for both of you, but less of a match than usual with a biological child. HYDRA must have synthesized both your DNAs to inseminate a woman. Which means he has two fathers and a mother.’’  
‘’This is getting better and better. I feel like we’re in a weird under monetized flick. I mean seriously, who just goes ‘You know what would be great today Josh? Let’s inseminate a woman with super soldier sperm!’ ‘Sure, sounds fun let’s go!’ I mean seriously. I knew they were screwed up. I spent enough time with them for that. I did not know they were batshit crazy.’’  
‘’Really Buck? You did not think they were batshit crazy? Didn’t the guy that RIPPED OFF HIS OWN FACE kind of tip you off? No?’’  
‘’Point taken.’’  
‘’Yeah I thought so.’’  
‘’So, what are we gonna do now?’’  
‘’Talk to him. Together. You are not pushing this off on me Buck. He’s our son’’.  
‘’Oh, so now he’s our son? He’s only our son when he does something great. Otherwise he’s just my son’’, said Bucky in his best housewife imitation.  
‘’You think you’re hilarious, dont’cha?’’  
Bruce was sniggering in the background. Bucky let out a self-satisfied smirk and just nodded towards the man. Steve just watched him with his ‘America is Disappointed in you’ face™. Which was extremely underhanded and playing dirty because it made Bucky want to confess all his sins even if he didn’t do anything wrong. He couldn’t let Steve see that though, otherwise the blond would know about his power and might start abusing it. And the world could not handle the might of ‘Americas facial expressions™’. Which meant he did the only thing he could do. Stand up and quickly walk into the room. Steve’s incredulous expression at that almost made him laugh. After all these years, he still hadn’t learned he couldn’t win against Bucky. Man, winning felt great. When he looked up into the questioning face of his son, he noticed the glaring holes in his plan. He might not have thought this through as well as he should have. Whoops. Well, Bucky always was a resourceful man. He could totally handle a little talk with his son. He just needed to steer this conversation calmly and adulty. He knew that wasn’t a word but HYDRA scrambled his brain so sue him. He liked the word.  
‘’ So, did they torture you too?’’  
He winced at the sound of Steve’s facepalm. That actually sounded like it hurt. Meanwhile the teen just stared at him, then doubled over laughing.  
‘’Oh god, hahaha, great conversation starter there. Did you learn that one in the army or at HYDRA?’’ He doubled over again and held his stomach. He heard the door close, which meant that Steve just walked out on him. Rude. So much for watching his six. He could totally do conversation. He just was a little rusty.  
‘’Just wanted to lighten the mood.’’  
‘’Yeah because we both know torture does that for you’’. He started laughing again. Bucky was starting to get annoyed. He didn’t like people laughing at him, especially when this was his first conversation with a stranger in a long time. Part of the deal that Steve struck was that Bucky had to lie low. He wasn’t the most social person anyways after all he’d been through so it worked fine for him. It still stung that his government apparently thought of him like a rabid dog, that needed someone nearby to put him down if necessary. And wasn’t that a thought. He snapped out of it before he could spiral down further and looked into the teen’s worried face.  
‘’Hey, I’m sorry okay? That was just really unexpected. I haven’t laughed in a long time so I should thank you really.’’  
‘’Oh yeah, everybody knows I’m funny.’’  
‘’Most hilarious comedian of your time.’’  
‘’Wait what are you actually considering my time? You do know I’m over 100, right?’’  
‘’All of it’’, the teen deadpanned. Which made Bucky grin in turn.  
‘’I can see we’re gonna get along great.’’  
‘’I can see that, but your boyfriend just ran off on us.’’  
‘’My what?’’  
‘’Your boyfriend. Partner. Husband? Friend with benefits? Penis buddy?’’  
‘’Okay why the hell is this list getting worse each time you open your mouth. And I have never in my life have heard ANYONE use the last one. EVER. Also, Steve is none of the above. We’re just friends. Without benefits.’’  
‘’Booooring’’, the teen whined with a turn and faceplanted into the bed.  
‘’Are you sulking now because Steve and I aren’t doing the deed? You are not sulking on me right now, are you?’’  
‘’You can say fucking. I’m 16 not 12. Also, I totally am, so go after him and change your relationship status.’’  
‘’You are not using your teenage drama abilities to blackmailing me into starting something with Steve. That’s not how this works and besides that, he is not interested’’  
‘’So, you are?’’ he lifted his head and looked at Bucky with a glint in his eye.  
Bucky winced. That did not come out like he wanted it to.  
‘’Okay you know what? I’m gonna go get him and we’ll have a nice family talk. Also, relationship status is a taboo topic.’’  
‘’You are totally running away right now’’, the boy called after him.  
‘’Am not!’’  
‘’Real mature’’, the boy said with an eyeroll and faceplanted in the bed again. Bucky had already been to medical so he knew that bed could not be comfy, but the teen made it look like he never wanted to leave it. Which made Bucky miss his own nice and soft bed and was totally uncalled for and a manipulative attack on his feelings. That boy was a force to be reckoned with.  
‘’You are a real drama queen; did I tell you that already?’’  
He flinched. He didn’t see Wanda behind him and by her amused expression she both heard the exchange and knew exactly what effect she just head on him. But it also told him that she floated to so he couldn’t hear her steps just so she could lord it over him that she managed to sneak up on him. Yep a witch. Bucky totally did not like her, not even a little bit, and not even when she made her famous chocolate cake. Okay, he could forgive her for chocolate cake. That cake was to die for. He wanted to marry that cake and have children with it. It was perfection incarnate and damnit, now he had to persuade her to make it sometime soon. Oh well, he was the Winter Soldier. A strategic mastermind. He could totally do it. Also, he’ll ask Nat, Clint and Steve for help because they would all kill for that cake. Even if Nat would never admit that and act like she just wanted to help them so they wouldn’t make a mess and /or blow up the tower. Which, fair. They got Tony involved once and that almost happened. An unlikely alliance but Bucky would do anything for that cake. Even make nice with the inventor devil that was Tony ‘’Let’s destroy my own tower because my plans always involve inventions that do not do what they should do’’ Stark. Oh well. He lingered there long enough. He just walked past Wanda without acknowledging her presence further. Time to get Steve. Not because he needed backup, but because that asshole told him not to push it off on him and left himself. And Bucky did not stand for inequality, especially not from Captain Stubborn himself.


	5. How to gracefully cope with holding a proper conversation

’So?’’  
Bucky just arched an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.  
‘’ So, nothing Rogers. You just left me there so march your ass back in this moment or so help me God I will drag you myself.’’  
‘’You think you can handle me?’’  
‘’While the answer to that question is a definite yes, how about you actually live up to your image and act like the adult you always say you are and save us this disgrace’’  
‘’Will you let me lead the conversation? Because I don’t think I can handle a repeat of that.’’  
‘’Whatever punk’’, Bucky huffed, slightly annoyed.  
‘’We have a deal then, jerk’’, Steve smirked.

When they walked back to medical the teen was still lying in the bed face down unmoving. Wanda was watching him with an amused expression.  
‘’Someone likes his bed’’, Steve said when he entered the room.  
‘’HYDRA’s beds were shit. This feels like a cloud in comparison’’, the boys muffled voice answered, showing no sign of wanting to get up.  
‘’Don’t you wanna turn around?’’  
‘’I know what you look like. You are in all the media. Just because you like watching yourself doesn’t mean I have to. Don’t flatter yourself’’  
Bucky sniggered at the boy’s snark. Served Steve right to walk into this after leaving him earlier. Steve just shot him an unimpressed look before he huffed and sat on the bed.  
‘’ Okay. So why don’t you tell us about yourself.’’  
‘’Ask away, I’m an open book.’’  
‘’How old are you?’’  
‘’16’’, Bucky threw in helpfully. Steve’s expression clouded a bit at that so he was not amused. He just didn’t know if it was because of Bucky’s butting into the conversation or a 16-year old HYDRA asset.  
‘’Someone listened. I’m impressed’’, the boy smirked.  
Before they could dissolve into banter again, Steve intervened.  
‘’Did you know your mother?’’  
The boy’s expression clouded instantly.  
‘’I did. She was pretty. She loved me. Her name was Lorelei.’’  
‘’Who was she?’’  
‘’An Agent of HYDRA. She is the only reason I’m alive now. She taught me everything I needed to survive. First to be a ‘magnificent asset of HYDRA’, as she put it, then to get away from them eventually. She volunteered for it, you know?’’, the boy looked up with a bitter smile.  
‘’She was very loyal to HYDRA, a fanatic. To the point where she wanted to give them her firstborn. But when she saw how they treated me, what they made me do…’’  
‘’They ended up killing her. She wanted to run away with me. Start a new life, just the two of us. Small mercy, they didn’t torture her. Said it was a gift for all her service. But they put her in front of me, and blew her brains out. I was splattered with her blood and brain. Wasn’t very pleasant.’’  
Bucky’s heart broke for the boy, their child, that had to go through so much already. He vowed then and there that he would protect him from now on. From HYDRA and anyone else that would come along. From what he could read on Steve’s face he felt similarly.  
‘’Did they make you kill?’’  
‘’No, first I was too young, then they thought I was too unstable to use. They didn’t trust me to be loyal to them. That’s why they put me in cryo.’’  
‘’When…?’’  
‘’1984’’  
‘’You were on ice for over 30 years?’’  
He shrugged in response.  
‘’It happens.’’  
Steve hugged him at that. They boy froze at first, but eventually relaxed into it. Bucky knew first-hand how devastatingly amazing Steve Rogers hugs were. Once you were enveloped in that blond haven, you didn’t want to ever leave. He smiled at the teen encouragingly, until the boy finally snapped out of it and hugged back.  
‘’You don’t need to talk about that anymore. You don’t need to talk about it ever again besides to your therapist. You’re safe here with us now. And if you want to, we can try to be your family. I never knew I had a son, but I always wanted kids.’’  
Bucky felt his eyes sting a bit at that. Something probably flew into there. Maybe rubble. Bucky Barnes was not sensitive and he would kill anyone that would say otherwise. But when the boy smiled, his first open smile, Bucky’s eyes got misty. Damn his allergies. Always getting him in the wrong moments.  
Thus, started the teens stay at Stark tower, as the newest member of their patchwork family. He fit in fast, everyone took to him in an almost worrying pace. He got more open. Laughed more. Bucky was happy. Until he wasn’t.


	6. How to gracefully cope with domestic life

The boy was training with Clint. Trading blows like he was used to it. A month has passed so he was. Wanda and Nat were watching the fight, carefully blank expressions on their faces.  
‘’It took a while. He is careful. Too careful even. But I finally managed to take his prints.’’  
‘’What now?’’  
‘’I’ll take them to Coulson. SHIELD has access to all the databases. Are we doing the right thing here?’’  
‘’Something is wrong. My magic does not work on him so I can’t say what. And the super duo fell for him too quickly. We can’t say anything now, they are too protective. Better to be safe than sorry.’’  
‘’You know, as much as my gut is telling me something is wrong, I really hope nothing is. They are so happy. They look like any second, they might actually get their heads out of their asses and admit their feelings to each other. Become a proper picket fence family. All that’s missing is the dog.’’  
‘’You think so?’’, Wanda sighed. ‘’These boys have a tendency of miscommunicate so badly it’s almost an artform. That coupled with confidence issues and self-denial makes me lose all hope sometimes.’’  
‘’Having a kid together helps. They spend a lot more time together and Steve is holding back less. They are touching a lot more too.’’  
‘’Yeah, I noticed that. When he came back first, he flinched when he was touched so Steve just stopped trying.’’  
They looked over to Steve and Bucky, Steve’s arm slung around Bucky’s shoulders, watching the fight together.  
‘’If we are right...’’  
‘’I know.’’  
In that moment the teen jumped up, his thigs around Clint’s neck in Nat’s signature move threw him on the mat, sat on his chest with a hand at his throat.  
‘’That’s my win, I guess. Considering I could easily snap your neck if this was a real fight.’’  
‘’Not a very good position for that. Especially because I would have had a knife in a real fight’’, Clint argued.  
‘’Oh, not now. These thighs are a lot stronger than they look like. Don’t forget I’m enhanced.’’ He winked at the man when he left the ring.  
‘’You did real good there buddy’’, Steve said, ruffling his hair.  
‘’Usually I’d stop you since you’re ruining my hair cut but whatever, I’m gonna have to shower now anyways. Now let me go, I’m all sweaty.’’  
‘’Sure, sure. Go wash the stink away.’’ The boy just rolled his eyes at Steve’s antics. He was used to them by now.  
Meanwhile Bucky tried to cope with the warmth next to him suddenly disappearing. Steve had always been a very tactile person and he loved that he went back to touching without restraining himself. As much as Bucky didn’t like showing weakness, he did miss touch that did not hurt. A lot. But his flinching at the start of his recovery had scared Steve off and he didn’t know how to bring it up without admitting anything. Without showing weakness. And they had trained that out of him thoroughly. Weakness meant pain. Weakness meant death. An asset was not to show weakness, a weak asset had no use. A useless weapon had to be fixed or replaced.  
‘’…that was one of Nat’s moves. Wonder when he learned that?’’  
Bucky snapped out of it and noticed that he had zoned out again, missing part of the conversation. Steve just kept chatting with him excitedly, but he didn’t miss Nat’s worried expression in the corner of his eye. So, she had noticed. He always knew she was too perceptive for her own good. But so was he, and he knew that something was troubling the women, standing together over there. He just didn’t know what, and it didn’t seem to be urgent so he just kept an eye on them. Just in case. He didn’t do well with feelings but if they had no one else to talk too…It was a last resort sort of plan but he would do it if push came to shove. But right now, he was resolved to enjoy his time with his family as much as possible. Bucky knew happy times didn’t last. At least now for him. He just waited for the other shoe to drop. But watching his Stevie turn that bright grin on him, he sensed something. Something entirely new, something he had thought buried and forgotten. It was a glimmer of hope.

Much to Bucky’s dismay, the other shoe did drop. And when it dropped, it did so spectacularly. With their son holding 4 shield agents’ hostage, while doing the classic villain monologue. Bucky closed his eyes, and cursed his fate, and recalled once again the events leading up to this. Maybe then he could make sense of what happened.  
It started as a normal day. They were at breakfast, when they elevator door opened and 4 SHIELD agents stepped out.  
‘’Can I help you gentlemen?’’, Tony asked.  
They had decided to do one of their rare team breakfasts as bonding activity. Also, Tony had not met their son yet. The introduction was hard, since the teen still hadn’t decided on a name to call himself, but they had time. But they didn’t even get to it much when they elevator dinged.  
‘’We have a warrant. We’re here to arrest the boy over there.’’  
‘’On what grounds?’’, Steve asked angrily.  
‘’Eighty-five cases of murder, sixty-three cases of kidnapping and one-hundred and three cases of torture over the past 16 years. The crime scenes were always void of clues but we always found prints. Apparently, the culprit didn’t think it was necessary to wear gloves, since we’d never get our hands on his prints anyways. It was his trademark. Only way we could tell which crimes were committed by him. Everyone has been hunting for him for years now. Not just the us, a lot of other countries as well.’’  
‘’C’mon, you don’t believe them, do you? You know me. I would never do that! Do you really think I would lie to you like that?!’’, the teen asked with tears in his eyes.  
And that’s when Bucky noticed it. A crack in the mask. It was small. It was in his gestures. In his facial expression. But it looked like a different person. And that’s when he knew that whoever they had learned to love over the past month, was not real. Did not exist. And his world shattered into pieces again.  
The boy must have noticed because his eyes started to glow and the agents started to gasp for air. He pulled out a gun and trained it on one of the agents.  
‘’Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. I didn’t expect that to go as long as it did anyways. It was supposed to be a short mission. Infiltrate here. Show him what I could do. Get him out of hiding, so I can finally face that coward. So, I could finally kill him. Finally have my revenge. But he didn’t come. He didn’t show. 2 months. AND HE STILL DIDN’T SHOW!’’  
Bucky saw Steve schooling his broken expression back into a blank mask. He got ready to intervene in case the reckless punk did something stupid.  
‘’Listen, I don’t know what’s going on but we can get through it. We are family after all. You are our son. No matter what they made you do, we can get you help. Everything will be okay.’’  
His mask cracked, as a tear fell. His desperation starting to show.  
The teen just let out a cruel laugh. A grimace distorting his usually handsome face, looking out of place, painted on. And then his face dissolved.  
Oh god, Bucky thought. Another one.  
He had short, red hair. He was pale, his skin a sickly white, his eyes green and manic. He had freckles on his air and one ear was missing. Bucky suddenly recalled; he would always stay on the right side of people. It made sense now, if he was missing his right ear, he wanted people to be left of him. Bucky was not careful enough. He wanted it to be real so bad he let it cloud his judgement. But wait. How did SHIELD even…His eyes widened at the realization. Nat had known. Had suspected all along. And didn’t think to tell him. To warn him. She left it to SHIELD. And now they’d all pay the price.  
‘’Its not all about you, you dumb blond oaf’’, the manic teen continued. ‘’It was never about you. I couldn’t care less about any of you. You were my bait. You were always my bait. But he didn’t bite. WHY DIDN’T HE BITE. I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT. He’s probably laughing at me right now. He doesn’t take me seriously. I Know!’’, He turned around with a bright smile.  
‘’I’m just gonna start killing you off, One by one. He’ll show sometime. He just has to. No way he’ll just watch that. AHAHAHAHA. I WILL KILL YOU ALL.’’  
He pointed the gun at Bucky. So that was how it was gonna end? By the hand of a crazy HYDRA agent? What a cosmic joke. He closed his eyes, Steve’s stricken expression at the corner off his eye. If Wanda’s magic would have worked on him, she would have used it already. Since she didn’t it meant no one could save him in time.

‘’You could have just called’’.


	7. Phantom

He learned his lessons very early in his life. Learned that life wasn’t fair. Learned that in order to survive, he had to be prepared to anything. To lose everything. Over and over. He learned that he was different. Different than anyone else there. Smarter, picked up things easier. And he learned to conceal those facts. Just enough to blend in. To be like anyone else. He was always watching people. He liked that. Watching and learning. Because he had learned, he had learned that he needed to use everything. Use everyone. Because he needed Strength. Because if he kept being weak, he’d keep losing. He hated losing. As long as he could remember, there were 30 of them. 30 children, all the same age. But he knew, he had listened to the guards. They didn’t need 30. They were all replaceable. When three of the kids tried to run away, they decided they all needed to learn a lesson. They all got whipped that day, brutally. 5 of them died. They got replaced the next day. As he lay on his stomach that night, listening to the sobbing and whimpering around him, he realised another thing. He was different. He could feel his body already closing the wounds. Knew, the next day there wouldn’t be remnants of what happened. It made him sad. Without those marks, how could he know if it was real? If it really happened? But he didn’t like the pain. He didn’t like losing. He knew he was better than them. Better than anyone else in there. They wouldn’t survive the training. He would lose them eventually. When the guards opened the door the next day, the whole room was painted red. He was sitting on his bed, the only clean spot. He didn’t speak. Didn’t scream. No matter what they did to him. Not that they managed to do much. After just an hour a man came in. He looked important. He could sense the fear in the men that had been just torturing him. And he wanted. He wanted that power, that aura. He wanted to stop being afraid. When the man gave him a slight nod, he understood. He didn’t need verbal commands. The men died easily. Swiftly. It made him wonder again. Wonder how it came so easy to him. Wonder why something, something considered so valuable, was so fragile. A slash of a knife, a stream of red. He didn’t feel when he watched it. Didn’t feel when he did it. When he snapped the threads of their lives. When the man told him to follow him. When the man told him to clean up the base first, he didn’t hesitate either. When he left the base that day, saw the sky for the first time, he felt detached. When the base behind him went up in flames, he remembered. 89. That was the number of lives he took that day. The man was happy. He praised him. He felt nothing.

His new home was similar to the old one. But oh, so different. He had a mother now. At least that was what his new handler was calling herself. She was a beautiful woman, her brown curly hair falling down her shoulders and her emerald green eyes catching the eyes of men wherever she went. And she knew it, she used it. She taught him how to. Said he was too young still, but she didn’t know how much time with him she had. She taught him everything she knew. She sang him lullabies when she put him to bed. Everyday was the same. Waking up, breakfast, training, lunch, training, dinner, stories and lullabies, and sleep. The stories were about important people. Targets. Former Assets and enemies, and their deeds. He liked the stories. One day, everything was different. His mother came into his room, obviously agitated. She took him to the operation room, gave him a sedative. When he woke up, he felt different. Stronger. She said a lot of things in that room. She said that she was sorry. Sorry for giving him away. Sorry for taking his childhood away. Sorry for not being able to say she loved him earlier. She told him she would make it right. Take him away. Make it right. He didn’t understand. But he followed her. He followed her, until they got caught. Until they took them back to base, gave him a gun and told him he could either kill her or die with her. She looked up at him, at that. Told him she loved him. That she would forgive him. The shot was clean. He made sure of that. They took him away again. He felt nothing.

No matter who they put him up against. No matter what they had him do. He did it perfectly. No mistakes. They said he was their best asset. That’s why they had to keep him hidden. One day, he heard. He was always listening. They didn’t know he could hear them, from far away, through closed doors. There were a lot of things they didn’t know. Nescience was weakness. Weakness was loss. He hated losing. So, he was listening. To anyone, anywhere. And they said he had a father. Called him the original asset. The Winter Soldier. He hacked their server that day. He found the files, and read them. And he knew then. Knew that he had to be careful. Be obedient. Because if they ever found out, they would break him. Break him like they broke him. He became even better then. Even faster, even more cunning. They feared him. He was the blonde mans favourite, so he could do whatever he pleased. As long as the results were fine. He started to test his boundaries a bit. Soon, he started killing. Agents, assets that were underperforming. Anyone that did a disservice to the organization. To their leader. He started wearing a mask. They already had a ghost. So, they gave him a new name. They called him phantom. And they gave him assets. A team to train, a team to lead. A failsafe, In case assets malfunction. They handled internal clean up mostly, but they got sent out now and then. On missions that were deemed impossible. Where there couldn’t be any traces. None of them had names. It wasn’t deemed necessary for assets. So, they were assigned numbers instead. Phantom 1,2,3,4. They were always dressed the same, always had their masks on. Their handlers couldn’t distinguish them. Only the man could. The man always knew. He wondered why. He dared to ask him once. He told him, that he looked for the little things. Movements that were subconscious. Unique to each of them. So, he adapted the motions of the others. The man couldn’t recognize him anymore. No one could. He lived up to his name. He became a real Phantom. The man stopped visiting. He felt nothing.

The desert was scorching. The men were always moaning about it. He never did. A weapon had no reason to complain about the weather. At night they locked him into a small room. They didn’t know he could get out of there whenever he wanted. No locks could keep him. No security could. He explored the city at night. Watched the people. Watched it like a movie. A life he could never have. The next day, he was chasing a target. One of the men had made a mistake. The target knew they were here now and he ran. He wished he could kill the man, but he was just rented out on this mission. Some ally of the organisation. He was told to play nice, whatever happened. It didn’t matter to him. He didn’t like talking anyways. He chased the men through allies, and just when he almost had him, a boy stepped in the way. His skin was white, pale even, a stark contrast to anyone around him. His hair too, a blonde so light, it was looking white. His eyes a piercing blue, that looked like they could see through him, straight into his soul. The sun shone on his hair, got reflected on him. He looked like an angel. He stopped in his tracks. Stopped to stare. For a second, he forgot his mission. He told him to get out of his way, his voice rusty from the rare use. The boy just stared at him in defiance. His knees were shaking. But he just told him to stop it. That killing was wrong. He turned around and left. He killed the target later. It didn’t compromise the mission. At least that’s what he told himself. At night, he was searching the town. Searching for his angel. He found him eventually. He watched him. After just a few minutes the boy just turned and stared at him, out of his window. There was no way he was visible; he was too good for that. The boy just shook his head, waved at him and opened his window. He left the window open the whole night. And the following two. Eventually the asset entered the room. The furniture was a light brown. There wasn’t much of it, just a table, a chair, a bed and two shelves, full of books. He sat down on the chair and looked at the boy, who was reading on the bed. The boy tried to talk to him, but when he didn’t answer, he wasn’t deterred. The asset was confused. People always took to ignoring him when he didn’t answer them. They boy just started reading aloud from his book. He read until way into the night, until his candles burnt out, until his throat was sore and he couldn’t keep awake. He read and the asset- the asset listened. He listened that night, and every night after that. He listened to a lot of stories. Stories about knights and princesses and wizards and dragons. Stories about spaceships and war and aliens. Stories about love and friendship, about betrayals and pain. The boy started to write his own stories. Started to read them to the asset, looking at him expectantly, like he valued his opinion. When the asset first asked him something about the story, he was surprised himself. It had been two months and this was the first time the asset had talked to the other boy. His bright smile as he answered the question had lit the room brighter than any candle could have. The asset walked to him. The urge to taste the smile, make it his own, overcame him. When they boy kissed back, he let out a slight smile.

He stood on the edge of the cliff and was looking down. The city was burning. The people were long dead. The soldiers had made sure to kill everyone before lighting the city. As a show of power, a warning. Those people, their lives, this city, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter to anyone. He turned around and entered the base. When the guards greeted him, he slit their throats. It was a big base. It had three hundred thirty-one soldiers. When he was finished, the base was painted red. No clean spot left. He made sure to made it messy. He was used to grace, to elegance. The men in there looked like they got ripped apart by an animal. At some point he had ditched his knife and started ripping their limbs off. His clothes were soaked with blood. The base was burning. He looked around. Fire behind him, Fire below him. The sun still scorching. Everything was the same. Like nothing had happened. Like countless of lives had not been lost this day. And he remembered. He remembered soft touches and lingering kisses. He remembered a touch of white. He remembered the sun lighting his angel up, making him even more beautiful. He remembered staying up all night, getting lost in stories. Drawing the blanket over his slender frame when he fell asleep. And for the first time in his life, he felt. And he cried.


	8. How to gracefully cope with near death

The man turned around at the sound of the voice. His face relaxing, showing that he now looked far older than his previous appearance.  
‘’You came.’’  
‘’You gave me a pretty good reason.’’  
A manic grin split the man’s face again.  
‘’I knew it! I knew you would come for them!’’  
The other man just tilted his head. Or woman, Bucky couldn’t tell really, but the voice sounded male. He was clad in white, a mask on his face with black veins running around the white oval. The mask covered his face completely, making him look even less human. The voice was distorted to a point where it didn’t sound human either. The whole getup obviously designed to intimidate, to inflict fear on enemies.  
‘’So, do you mind explaining what exactly you want of me, 4? I can’t remember doing anything bad to you. I mean, after all, I’m the only reason you’re still alive. You were a failure when I met you. Before I trained you. Made you one of the best. One to be proud of. And yet, I find you here. No plan in mind, challenging someone who is so far out of your league you couldn’t hope to scratch him. I’m rather disappointed, really. I expected more.’’  
The smile on the red-haired man’s face disappeared, a murderous expression taking its place.  
‘’Big words for a puppet. You danced for your masters all your life, and now you think you can talk big because you cut your strings? You’re nothing without HYDRA. You’re no threat. Not anymore. You lost your edge. The old you would never have fallen for such an obvious trap, commander’’ He spit the title out with such contempt, Bucky wondered what the guy had done to him. Because he knew what hate look like, and that was definitely it.  
The figure just sighed in response. ‘’Is that how you wanna play, 4? Hurling around insults and accusations? You said I lost my edge. That the old me wouldn’t have walked into this trap. And you are right. But the thing is, I don’t have to hide anymore. I don’t have to hold back. So, if I need to, I can just rip that head right of your shoulders. You really shouldn’t test me.’’  
‘’You think you’re better than me, don’t you?’’, the man said, obviously agitated. ‘’You always did! Always looked down on us because you were lucky enough to inherit the serum. But I have powers now. Strong powers. Look at me, holding down the avengers and some SHIELD agents! Even the Scarlet Witch can’t break through my powers!’’  
The figure let out a small laugh at that. ‘’Hold the avengers? Please. You’re manipulating them, that’s all. You’ve instilled in them the belief that they can’t move, that your powers hold them down. That they have to sit and watch. But the thing with you is, 4, you were always a fake. Wanting what all of us had. Because in the end, you had no talent. Just a small worm trying to leech of people stronger than you. So how about we get this done and over with, yeah?’’  
His body trembling with anger, the man pointed the gun at Bucky once again.  
‘’You want to know why I hate you? You killed my family you son of a bitch! We were sitting at breakfast. I was in a blind spot at the time. One moment, my mum is smiling and serving us eggs, the next moment my whole family is lying face down on the table, bleeding out. My father was a politician, someone wanted him gone and hired HYDRA. But you didn’t just kill him, you killed my mother and sister too you monster! That’s why I came here, because you might not have a family, no one important to you but you do have blood-related relatives. Even if it won’t hurt you as much as your actions hurt me, it’s better than nothing!’’  
He fired the gun. Bucky didn’t even have time to react, when the bullet stopped mid-air, in front of his face. The figure started slowly clapping.  
‘’A great show, really. But didn’t you listen to what I said before? You are a fake. I am the real deal.’’ He waved his hand, the mans neck twisted and with a sickening crunch It broke and he fell to the ground.  
‘’Goodbye Tim Pharay. I’d say good luck in seeing your family again, but we both know I’ll see you in hell.’’  
He turned to the avengers. ‘’You know, I’m actually kind of disappointed in your performance there. He almost killed Barnes there.’’  
Everyone in the room trained their weapons on him. With the mans powers gone they could now move freely. Wanda’s eyes started to glow, but nothing happened.  
‘’You should really stop that, your powers are too weak for that, sweetheart.’’  
The comment just spurred her on even more, until she crashed to the ground with a cry.  
‘’What did you do!?’’ Steve asked, positively shaking with anger. Apparently, the adrenaline caught up with him. He almost had to watch Bucky die, and Bucky knew how much Steve hated feeling helpless. It reminded him of the time before the serum, when he was too weak to make the changes he wanted. Bucky lowered his weapon again. The guy just saved his life, he wasn’t gonna shoot him now. Steve sent him an irritated glare at the action.  
‘’He did just save me guys. Maybe let’s try to make sense of what just happened?’’  
‘’He just hurt Wanda’’, Steve growled.  
‘’In my defence, I did tell her to stop. Not my fault she didn’t listen. Also, she just got in over her head and lost consciousness. She’s fine otherwise.’’  
‘’Give me one reason to trust you.’’  
‘’Not sure if that counts but…’’ He lowered his mask. A feeling of dread went through Bucky, he knew that face. It was the face of the boy he pulled out of the cryo-chamber. The face of the boy that had been living with them the past month. He looked over and Steve didn’t seem to fare much better. But instead of dread, he seemed to be feeling anger instead.  
‘’What is this sick joke. Do you think that’s funny?!’’  
‘’No, I think the joke is, that that idiot over there pretended to be me for a month and none of you got suspicious. Well I guess someone did because SHIELD tested his prints and found out, but seriously. Aren’t you supposed to be like a club of super spies and shit?’’  
‘’How would we know you’re not pretending too?’’, Bucky asked.  
‘’Yeah, of course. Because the way I showed myself was not conspicuous in the least. It was all a big ploy to get you to trust me. Just took sacrificing a HYDRA-base and an asset that could take any identity he wanted. You’re so onto me.’’ He cocked his eyebrow. ‘’That was sarcasm by the way. In case you old people don’t know what that is.’’  
Bucky gasped at that.  
‘’I’ll have you know, biologically I’m still in my twenties!’’  
‘’Sure grandpa. Now, since I just saved your asses is there anything to eat here? Because I’m starving. You can ask your questions after. I’m now answering anything in front of the agents though. I don’t trust governments.’’ He turned around and started walking towards the elevator.’’ Oh and In case anyone wants to shoot, I’d just like to point you to the bullet still flying above the table there.’’  
The elevator doors closed with a ding.  
‘’What now?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Talk to him I guess?’’  
‘’He just basically said the other guy was pretending to be him. And with what Timmy over there said, he seems to think he’s your son too. I wonder how many kids you’ll have by the end of the year. The quota’s one a month so far.’’, Tony said with a smirk.  
Bucky just glared at him.  
‘’How could we be sure?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Well, apparently DNA tests don’t work. And no way another fingerprint test would work. I think we need some help here. Someone independent that knows about magic.’’, Tony said. ‘’Let’s call Strange.’’


	9. How to gracefully cope with a turbulent day

They found him in the kitchen of Steve’s apartment eating sandwiches. They just had given up searching the tower for him and returned there. Bucky was standing there, watching him eat sandwiches and talk animatedly with none other than Peter Parker, acting like old friends. Bucky hadn’t even known Peter was visiting today. Not that he had ever interact much with the boy, considering he spent most of his time with Tony while Bucky tried to spend as little time as possible with the guy when he wasn’t required to. Still, that development was…unexpected to say the least. And while he was happy the teen tried to socialise and make friends; Tony would definitely throw a fit when he found out. Steve didn’t look to happy about it either, but he still seemed put off by how the day went. To be fair, it had been quite turbulent, but Bucky had learned to take it in stride. If the teen had wanted him dead, he could just have waited for the bullet to hit before sweeping in and saving the rest of them. That earned him a bit of trust in Bucky’s books. Not much, but enough not to try to kill him. Yet. After all he hadn’t forgotten that the last guy claiming to be his son had been a crazy maniac that almost killed him. And the guy had even passed the DNA test. Which reminded him.  
‘’So, what are you guys doing?’’, Steve asked with a raised eyebrow.  
‘’Oh, hi Mr. Rogers’’, Peter waved, ‘’Jake was just telling me about how he bust a mafia.’’  
‘’Don’t worry, I’m properly censoring the gory details. Wouldn’t want to scar the little puppy here’’, the teen said with a smirk.  
‘’Hey!’’  
‘’Jake?’’, Bucky asked dumbfound.  
‘’Hm?’’, the teen tilted his head, ‘’ Is there a problem?’’  
‘’No, I just…didn’t know you had a name.’’  
‘’Well thanks for that’’, the teen said with a dry laugh. ‘’I didn’t, by the way, none of us did. Jake is just a nickname. Thought it’d be nice to have one. Proper first name’s Jacob. ‘’  
‘’Oh, that’s, that’s great. It’s a nice name.’’, Bucky said.  
‘’If that’s your normal reaction to someone introducing himself, we need to teach you how to socialise properly. Jeez.’’, the teen answered with an amused expression.  
The gall of that teen. But it did remind him somewhat of the impostor and that…  
‘’Can I ask you something?’’  
‘’Just did.’’, he leaned back in his chair, ‘’But you get another one for free. Family discount.’’  
‘’How would we even know?’’, Steve blurted out. ‘’The last guy also said he’s our son, and he passed the DNA- test. Hell, he even sounded like you.’’  
Peter looked around, obviously taken aback. ‘’Um guys, did I miss something?’’  
‘’A guy was here for a month, pretending to be me. He tried to kill Bucky so I snapped his neck.’’  
‘’Ah.’’ Peter looked even more confused than before. ‘’That’s …great? But why’d you have to kill the guy. You could have had him arrested.’’  
‘’Aw. You’re so naïve it’s kinda cute’’  
Peter narrowed his eyes at him. ‘’I just don’t think murder is the solution to a problem.’’  
‘’I think it’s a great solution actually. As long as it’s just the bad guys who get hurt.’’  
‘’You’re supposed to be better than them. Not as bad.’’  
‘’Let me tell you a little story. There was a boy, let’s call him Keith. Keith had powers, so he decided to be a hero. One time a villain attacked the city. Keith arrested him and was proclaimed a hero. He got a medal from the mayor himself. Everybody loved him. Meanwhile the villain was sitting in prison, and decided to collect some favours. He had some people dig up information on Keith. Then he got out of prison, killed Keith’s family and friends, and kidnapped his girlfriend as a bait. Keith was desperate to save her, she was the only one he had left, the villain slaughtered everyone else. So, he fell into the trap and died. So did his girlfriend. The moral of the story is, you can try to have the moral high ground all you want. But the one suffering if it goes bad will not be you. It will be everyone around you. Anyone that isn’t as strong, can’t protect themselves. You don’t just need strength to be able to do that, you need to not have any close persons. No weaknesses. And not just that, if you keep letting your enemies live you can’t get close to anyone either. Because sooner or later they will come. And they won’t be targeting you. They will target the innocent people around you, because that’s the kind of people they are.’’  
‘’A dark story. And a very dark view of the world.’’  
‘’Oh, that wasn’t just a story. The villain was an undercover agent of HYDRA. I heard him boasting about what he did to the poor guys girlfriend. It wasn’t pretty.’’  
Peter started to look a bit green in the face.  
‘’I’m just gonna…’’ he said awkwardly, and left.  
‘’What was that about?!’’ Steve said angrily.  
‘’Excuse me?’’  
‘’Why did you tell him that?’’  
‘’I just told him the truth.’’  
‘’He’s just a kid!’’  
‘’He’s the same age as me.’’ That made Steve shut up, as unhappy about it as he was. Guess it was Bucky’s turn now. After all Steve hadn’t lived HYDRA. He couldn’t understand, even if he tried.  
‘’He isn’t like us though. He’s still innocent.’’  
‘’Yeah’’, he said with a sad smile, ‘’that’s what makes me worry so much. That’s not innocence it’s naïveté. And it will get him hurt one day.’’  
‘’Maybe. But its not for you to decide how he should act. What his values and beliefs should be. There is no right or wrong here.’’  
‘’I’m pretty sure he thinks different. He probably thinks I’m a monster now’’, he said with a bitter laugh, ‘’not that he would be wrong. I certainly am.’’  
‘’Hey,’’ Bucky started with kind voice.  
‘’Don’t. You don’t know me.’’  
‘’I know HYDRA. I know what they do to people.’’  
‘’They- No I’m not discussing that now. I’m sorry but I don’t know you guys well enough yet to trust you with that.’’  
‘’Then how about you tell us about the other guy?’’ Steve asked calmly. ‘’Would that be okay?’’  
‘’Yeah, of course I- shit, sorry. I don’t know where to start.’’  
‘’What were his powers?’’  
‘’He was a faker. An expert in make believe. He could make you believe anything he wanted. It became your reality. That’s why he was so dangerous. He didn’t have to voice it either, it had some sort of mental trigger. People just thought he looked totally different than he actually did. It took a lot of power though. Mental power as well as plain energy. To live as me for a month, he probably used up most of his power. He thought- well they all thought really, that I was just enhanced. That I had no other powers. That’s the only reason he got that careless. He thought he could hold me down just like you guys.’’  
‘’Why couldn’t he?’’  
‘’We got our powers the same way. A small piece of the Tesseract.’’  
‘’Wanda got her powers from the Tesseract too’’, Steve said with a frown.  
‘’I’m not gonna go into the specifics now but its different. Just trust me on that.’’  
‘’And how did he get through the DNA-test?’’  
‘’He basically charmed Bruce. Just followed him to his lab, he wouldn’t even had noticed.’’  
‘’Why do you know so much about him?’’  
Jake let out a bitter laugh at that. ‘’I trained him. Made him what he was. HYDRA wanted to scrap him, but I had mercy with the poor guy. Decided to save his ass. Guess it’s like they say, no good deed goes unpunished.’’  
Steve pursed his lips, ‘’That’s not...’’  
Bucky stopped him with a shake of his head.  
‘’And what now?’’ Bucky asked him, ‘’what’s your plan now that he’s gone.’’  
‘’I still have some unfinished business I have to take care of,’’ the teen said with a sigh, ‘’but I kinda hoped after that I could stay for a while? Get to know you?  
Bucky smiled at him. ‘’You can stay in my apartment. I have a guest room that’s never used anyways.’’  
He saw the tension leave the teens body. He just noticed how high-strung the boy had been. It made something ache in his heart. Something he didn’t want to examine further. At least not yet.  
Steve just sighed. ‘’I can’t say I’m fully on board with that, not after what happened with the last guy, but I guess I can at least give you a chance. Wouldn’t be fair exactly to judge you on what the other guy did.’’  
‘’Okay, then. Guess I’m coming back here.’’  
The small, melancholic smile on his face looked more real, than any of the other smiles before. It made Bucky realise just how used to wearing a mask the boy was. He had the sudden urge to tear those walls down, get him to trust him enough to put that mask down. The strength of the emotion made him frown.  
‘’Everything okay Buck?’’  
‘’Yeah, sorry. Just got lost in my head.’’  
The fondness in Steve’s look made his heart skip a beat. It was moments like this that made him think, maybe they could have more. Could be more. And then he remembered all the reasons why Steve couldn’t love him. Remembered why it was impossible. That even if he tried, he would just taint him. Break him. Hurt him. It made his heart flare with pain once again. A thoughtful hum from the teen broke his train of thought.  
‘’So that’s how it is.’’  
They both turned to him again.  
‘’That’s how what is?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Oh nothing, I just thought this is gonna be a lot more interesting than I thought.’’  
He shot them both a wide grin.  
‘’Oh, by the way, you mentioned some business?’’  
‘’Oh yeah that.’’  
‘’Mind sharing with the class?’’ Steve asked with a bemused smile  
‘’Sure. Once I’m back, HYDRA will be bygones. Ashes to Ashes and shit.’’, he said with a dangerous smirk. ‘’And then, we can dance on their graves. A huge Stark ‘HYDRA is dead’ Party seems fitting’’  
Bucky nodded at him. ‘’Yeah. That sounds good. You’re not gonna tell us how though, are you?’’  
Jake just put on his best innocent expression. ‘’You’ll just have to wait and find out like anyone else.’’, he sauntered to the elevator and turned around, ‘’But I can promise you one thing. It will be glorious. They’ll go out with a bang, and we will all watch from here’’.  
The elevator dinged and he was gone.


	10. How to gracefully cope with waiting

Everything went back to normal after Jake left. Or, as normal as life was in the Avengers tower. Which was mostly spent developing complicating plans to get Wanda to make her famous cake (because Bucky had urges and didn’t want to be judged for it. Not like anyone else complained. They were all quick to help.). However, their plans had been thwarted by Pepper’s arrival. After seeing Tony’s plans for a device, he wanted to build to help their plan along he got a dress down that could be heard through the whole tower. So, for the time being a strategic retreat seemed like the best option. Just until she left. Not that Bucky was afraid of the woman, but he shuddered thinking about what she could get up with if Nat and Wanda were working with her. It was a wonder they hadn’t taken over the world yet. Probably thanks to the Avengers distracting them. Bucky was an unsung hero, really. He sighed. Steve looked over questioningly. Bucky just shook his head at him and went to get himself a well-deserved snack. That’s when Steve’s phone started ringing. It was his work phone, which was confusing considering there wasn’t an Avengers alarm. ‘’Fury’’, he said surprised. Which again, was very strange. Not like the man would just make social calls. He put him on speaker.  
‘’Rogers.’’  
‘’Yeah?’’  
‘’Where.is.he?’’  
‘’I’m sorry?’’  
‘’Okay. Let me rephrase it. Where the FUCK IS YOUR SON?!’’  
‘’Uh…’’  
‘’Please, for the love of god, don’t tell me you let him just roam freely. Okay whatever. Get him on the phone. NOW.’’  
‘’First of all, he’s not a prisoner, he can go where he pleases. Secondly, he isn’t here right now, so I can’t get him on the phone. I’ll tell you when he’s back.’’  
‘’Okay then. Just answer me one question. Is he in the country?’’  
‘’…Possibly.’’  
Bucky could already imagine the man’s face going flush with anger. He wondered how the man still hadn’t popped an artery, considering the constant state of anger he seemed to be in.  
‘’Okay. Let’s talk a few facts, shall we? So, your alleged son, he left the tower when, a week ago?’’  
‘’Pretty much, yes.’’  
‘’Great. Well that’s when the reports started.’’  
‘’Reports?’’  
‘’There have been explosions and assassinations in 8 countries now.’’  
Bucky heard a loud ping on Fury’s end.  
‘’9 now.’’ Fury took a deep breath. ‘’The kill count is in the five-hundreds already, and with how bad the bodies look we can’t even identify them outside of a DNA test. There have already been several world security council meetings, and guess what, every witness description of the culprit matches. And is surprisingly fitting to the former HYDRA asset you guys had in your care a few days ago. And, another coincidence, most of the victims were affiliated with HYDRA in some way, shape or form. Well, what I’m saying here is, GET YOUR BOY UNDER CONTROL BEFORE I WILL!’’ He hung up.  
‘’Well, that was fun.’’  
Steve couldn’t help but grin at that. ‘’You’re the worst.’’  
‘’Psh, we both know that couldn’t be further from the truth.’’  
‘’You know, I think if your ego gets any bigger your head will explode.’’  
‘’If Tony’s fine, so will I.’’  
That actually made Steve snigger. ‘’Touché’’.  
‘’So, what are we gonna do now?’’, he asked.  
‘’I’m voting letting him do his thing’’.  
‘’Buck-‘’  
‘’Don’t Buck me now Steve. He said he’s getting rid of HYDRA. What did you think he would be doing? He has some sort of plan. I’m not getting in the way of that.’’  
‘’He’s 16.’’  
‘’And a trained HYDRA asset. Without knowing what he’s trying to do we would just endanger him, trying to go after him. Also, I doubt we could find him if he doesn’t want to be found. If we could, so could HYDRA.’’  
‘’You know I’m not good with the whole wait and see.’’, Steve grimaced.  
‘’Trust me buddy, we all know you’re an impatient little shit, but right now we can’t do anything else.  
Steve let out a surprised huff of laughter. ‘’You really don’t pull your punches today, do you?’’  
Bucky’s expression grew serious. ‘’I want them gone Stevie. And he said he can do it. If they would be gone for good I-‘’  
Steve stepped closer and pulled him into a hug. ‘’I know Buck. I know.’’

He would never get tired of it, he thought. The thrill of the hunt. Another shot, and another guard was down. They still hadn’t noticed. He killed the guards systematically, his sniper making no sounds. Charmed bullets were great. Not many people used them but that’s because sorcerers were usually too proud to rely on guns, and anyone else couldn’t really get their hands on those since you needed innate magic power to use them. Well, he wasn’t just anybody, and his mission was going smoothly. The man was a private arms dealer. A rather huge one at that. He supplied several governments with all they needed. The only problem was, he needed the guy alive. That’s why he had been hunting the guy for three days now. He had shut himself in his bunker. One hundred guards. He spent the last 3 hours whittling them down to 70. He just needed they key ones gone. The rest would die once he blew the building up. He packed up the sniper and went invisible. Illusion magic was just so practical for these operations. He just walked straight past the guards. Only few of the guards would have been able to sense him, and he took those out first. No unnecessary risks, that was his possibly. Better a body more and a higher chance of getting out unscathed. Mercy wasn’t something HYDRA ever taught him. And he wasn’t in the mood to be merciful anyways. He closed the door and locked it with a spell. Giovanni Marelli turned around, startled.   
‘’I was looking for you.’’, he said with a smile. The man’s eyes widened in fear.  
‘’You have the wrong guy. I’m just a salesman. Nothing interesting about me.’’  
‘’Let’s just skip the Smalltalk and get straight to business.’’  
He grabbed the man’s neck and twisted his head so he looked him in the eyes. His eyes started to glow through the mask, and so did the man’s. Then the man fell to the ground. And that was the end of old Giovanni. He got out his phone and made a call.  
‘’I have everything. Operation Burnout will start in twenty-four hours. Get everything ready.’’  
‘’Of course, sir’’, a female voice answered.  
‘’Well then, let’s head home, shall we. But before that…’’  
His eyes started to glow again and the whole building went up in flames. He walked past the screaming, burning guards. Some reaching for him, like they were asking for him to help them.   
‘’Ashes to ashes…well you know the spiel. Have fun guys.’’  
He left the building and it collapsed behind him.

When Bucky woke up the next day and was handed a coffee he didn’t wonder. Even if the stuff didn’t work on his super soldier metabolism, some habits he just couldn’t shake. And it helped getting him started in the day, switch from sleep mode to a semi-awake state. He didn’t know how Steve could stand to wake up early and go for runs. The heathen. He loved his bed way too much for such blasphemy. ‘’How was your run?’’  
‘’Rather fun actually, blew up some stuff, killed some bad guys. The usual.’’  
Bucky turned around at that. The person who handed him the coffee was decidedly not Steve, he now noticed.  
‘’You really let your guard down, you know?’’  
‘’Guess you just don’t ring my alarms anymore. You should be happy. It even took Thor several months and the guy’s a giant puppy, really.’’  
‘’Huh. I’d like to meet him one day. Aaaanyways. My business is finished.’’  
‘’You telling me HYDRA is gone?’’  
‘’Nah, the fireworks start in the evening. Tell everyone we meet at 6 p.m. and to not be late. I’m gonna make sure everything’s in place in the meantime.’’  
‘’What are you even gonna do?’’  
‘’Nuh-uh, not ruining the surprise. But its gonna be fun.’’, he grinned at Bucky.  
‘’You get to blow up stuff again, don’t you?’’  
‘’I will neither confirm nor deny that.’’  
‘’Should I be concerned by how much you two like blowing shit up?’’, Steve asked from the doorway.  
‘’It’s fun!’’, both of them pouted in unison.  
‘’Oh god, there’s two of them now!’’, Steve said, horrified.  
‘’Don’t worry, we’ll only be blowing up the bad guys.’’  
‘’That’s about as reassuring as Tony promising the next design won’t be too risky. You are not getting any more explosives.’’  
‘’Don’t worry, I can make my own. I’ll give you some.’’, Jake stage-whispered to him with a wink to Steve.  
Steve just threw his hands in the air and left the room with a ‘’They’ll blow us all up. I can sense it. Divine intervention is our only salvation.’’  
The former assassins both burst out laughing.  
‘’So, after today it will be all over?’’  
Jake went over to him and squeezed his shoulder.  
‘’You ready to see them burn?’’  
‘’More than you can imagine.’’  
‘’Good.’’ The grin he wore had something feral, something sinister. But Bucky didn’t care. All he wanted was HYDRA gone. He had wished for that for a long time now. It was time to end this hundred-year old war. And Bucky was determined to see it through. Even if watching was the only thing he’d be doing.  
6 p.m. had all the Avengers sitting in the common room.  
‘’So, can anyone explain why we’re here?’’ Tony asked. ‘’Some of us actually work.’’  
Jake entered the room, phone in hand.  
‘’Everyone’s here. Good. Let’s get this show started then.’’


	11. How to gracefully cope with fireworks

They were all sitting in the common room, looking at Jake expectantly.  
‘’So, what’s the deal? Why were we called?’’, Tony asked again.  
‘’To watch some fireworks.’’, Jake said.  
‘’Fire-‘’, Tony spluttered. ‘’That’s why you got us all assembled here? I was working on an important project you know, you can’t just-‘’  
‘’God Tony, shut up!’’, Bucky said. Tony gave him a shocked look. So far the two had a mutual understanding to stay out of each other’s way. They hadn’t argued once since Bucky moved into the tower. He lifted his hands in surrender.  
‘’I sincerely doubt he was talking about the kind of fireworks you were thinking about Stark’’, Natasha said with a sigh.   
‘’He should have been clearer then!’’  
‘’Stark!’’  
‘’God, chill out Buckster. What’s got your panties in a twist?’’  
‘’Shut. Up!’’ The ‘before I murder you’ was silent but apparently Bucky’s intimidation skills weren’t that rusty after all because the genius finally closed his mouth.  
‘’If you guys are done, we can move on with the program, shall we?’’, he made a call on his phone.  
‘’Start Operation Burnout.’’  
‘’Authorization required.’’  
‘’B4H58665SDGE55GG46589WDFW8568’’  
‘’Authorization complete. Welcome sir. Shall I start the projection?’’  
Everyone was staring at him. He just shrugged. ‘’Eidetic memory.’’  
‘’Huh’’, Steve said.’’ I have it but Bucky doesn’t. I didn’t think you would.’’  
‘’Got lucky I guess.’’  
The projection screen on the wall started to roll down.  
‘’I did not start that. Why is it- Everything okay FRIDAY?’’  
‘’I do not detect any anomalies.’’  
‘’Oh yeah that’s my fault. I put a backdoor for my own AI in.’’, Jake said.  
‘’YOU DID WHAT?!’’  
‘’Your security is pretty lax.’’  
‘’IT IS NOT!’’  
‘’Guess I’m just that good then’’, he said with a smug smirk.  
Tony’s indignant squawk brought a grin on Bucky’s face.  
‘’Boys’’, Wanda said with a sigh. ‘’We are waiting’’.  
‘’Oh yeah, sorry. It should be up right about… now.’’  
A projection started. Apparently, satellite images of a lot of different buildings.  
‘’What are…?’’  
‘’HYDRA-bases. The 128 remaining ones.’’  
‘’You knew their location? Let’s go then, get rid of them.’’, Steve said.  
‘’If we do that, they will just relocate. And then we won’t know their location.’’  
‘’What are we gonna do then?’’ Bucky asked impatiently. ‘’that’s our chance to get rid of them once and for all.’’  
‘’No, it’s my chance. This is my plan and they will be gone after today. Just sit tight and watch.’’, Jake said, casting him an irritated look.  
‘’And how are you gonna do that?’’  
‘’Sir, the preparations are complete. Waiting on your signal.’’  
‘’Okay then. Fire.’’  
At first nothing happened. But when the first missile hit a HYDRA-base, Bucky understood. All 128 bases went up in flames in just minutes.  
‘’Holy shit…’’, Steve whispered.  
‘’You can’t just deploy missiles on other countries! There are regulations in place for that kind of thing! For all you know you could start a war!’’, Tony shouted.  
‘’Thankfully I don’t care for that kind of thing. So isn’t that nice’’, Jake said with a snort. ‘’I’m also not finished yet. Deploy alpha teams.’’  
‘’Alpha teams deployed. Remaining target count, 1567.’’  
The screen changed to the afore mentioned number. It started decreasing rapidly until it stopped at 121.  
‘’All alpha teams were either successful or eliminated.’’  
‘’Deploy all our remaining weapons and manpower. I want those last guys dead.’’  
The number started depleting again slowly, until it stopped at 3.  
‘’Who?’’  
‘’Phantoms 1, 2 and 3.’’  
‘’Huh. I get 2 and 3. I trained those guys. But my successor seems to be not half bad. Why couldn’t we get them?’’  
‘’They were here. We only had one team here since sir’s presence was enough to clean up remaining targets.’’  
‘’Okay, where are they?’’ He walked to the giant glass window, tapped his wristband, his eyes aglow, and it turned into a sniper plus stand.  
‘’Sending coordinates.’’ His phone dinged with a message. He lined up the gun and fired. The shot went straight through the window, leaving the glass intact.  
‘’I love charmed bullets. These ones go through anything inorganic.’’  
‘’Hit confirmed. Phantom 3 is down.’’  
‘’Next one’’. Another message, another shot.   
‘’Phantom 1 down.’’  
‘’Last one’’  
‘’I’m sorry sir, the target is moving too fast to trace.’’  
‘’Then think of something.’’  
‘’I don’t believe that necessary. The targets destination seems to be this building. He is planning to crash through the window at a high velocity.’’  
In that moment the window exploded in a burst of fire.  
A figure stood up, similar clothing to his own Phantom uniform but instead of white it was blood red. Jake was leaning against the sofa casually.  
‘’Hey there Felix. Long-time no see’’  
The man just growled and fired a stream of fire at Jake. But the silhouette of him went blurry and disappeared once it got hit.  
‘’I just want to talk. You don’t have to go attacking me.’’  
‘’I’M NOT TALKING TO TRAITORS’’  
‘’Have it your way then’’, Jake said coolly, ‘’ But haven’t you noticed something off?’’  
The man started to look around frantically. Besides Jake, no one was in the room. Something was wrong. Really wrong. The room started spinning. The next thing Felix knew he was lying on his back and couldn’t move. His blood was pooling under his body.  
‘’How? When?’’, he croaked.  
‘’Timmy’s abilities came In pretty handy here. I got them when I killed him earlier. You know the drill.’’  
‘’That can’t be. Our abilities don’t work on each other.’’  
‘’Not quite true. Yours don’t work on each other or me. But mine do work on you. I told Timmy already. You guys are fake I’m the real deal.’’ He tilted his head.’’ But I guess that doesn’t matter to you anymore, huh.’’ He left the corpse where it was and sat back down on the sofa. The avengers all staring at him.   
‘’Congratulations Sir. Phases 1 and 2 of Operation Burnout were completed successfully. The agencies are now getting all the copied data from the bases. That should be enough to lock down anyone that worked with them.’’  
‘’So, they’re gone?’’ Bucky asked. ‘’Just like that?’’  
‘’Just like that’’, Jake nodded. ‘’What, didn’t you trust in me?’’  
Bucky started laughing hysterically, until he started crying. He knew everyone was staring at him but he couldn’t stop. It took less than hour and they were wiped out. It was brutal, merciless. But he couldn’t care less. Because he didn’t have to be afraid anymore. They were gone for good. It was over. Warmth enveloped him in form of a hug. He cried in Steve’s neck while his friend held him through it.  
When he came to again, everyone else was gone from the room. He disentangled himself from Steve and sat next to him.  
‘’It’s really over isn’t it?’’  
Steve squeezed his hand and gave him a tired smile.  
‘’Yeah it is.’’  
‘’Been a long time.’’  
‘’Felt like a hundred years.’’  
‘’Don’t think you’re funny, punk.’’  
‘’I’m hilarious, jerk.’’  
They grinned at each other. It wasn’t all good now. He wasn’t magically over everything now, and he still had no idea how to deal with his feelings for Steve or what to do with Jake. It didn’t feel like an end. But it felt like a beginning. And that thought made hope blossom in his chest once again. Because he was grateful. And he was ready to meet whatever was coming head on. After all, he was a master in coping now. It was time to get his life back on track. He took Steve by the hand and dragged him to the elevator.  
‘’C’mon punk, it’s time for ice cream!’’  
‘’It’s 2 a.m. Buck!’’  
‘’Then just buy a store. You have the money’’  
Steve grinned at him. ‘’You’re ridiculous, you know that?’’  
Bucky put on his best puppy eyes. ‘’ Does that mean you will buy me an ice café?’’  
‘’…. We can just break into one and take a few scoops. I’ll leave money on the counter. In and out, no traces.’’  
‘’You know I love it when you make an op out of getting ice cream’’  
‘’Yeah, yeah,’’, Steve grumbled. ‘’You’re corrupting me’’  
‘’Always a pleasure’’, Bucky said, shooting him a dazzling smile. The elevator doors closed and off they went.


	12. How to gracefully cope with the day after

He woke up the next morning on the couch with Steve’s arms around him. After their little break-in they just walked around the neighbourhood and talked for hours. Then they went up into Steve’s apartment and watched a movie. Bucky didn’t want to be alone and it seemed like Steve understood that because he just stayed with him until they both fell asleep on the couch. Bucky groaned. It would be much easier for him to get over his crush if the blonde wouldn’t be so goddamn perfect. He slipped out of his arms, wrote him a little note and went for his own apartment. No need to wake the guy when he looked so peaceful, he obviously needed the sleep. But Bucky had to get out there before he started catching even more feelings. Which was unlikely, because he already was head over heels for the guy but Bucky had always been good at denial. He took a quick shower, went through his morning routine and went for the common room. Once the elevator doors opened, he could hear the shouting.  
‘’-can’t just do whatever you want without thinking of the consequences!’’ Tony shouted.  
‘’Ultron, by the way.’’ Jake answered coolly. ‘’But yeah, you totally think everything through.’’  
‘’That’s not-‘’  
‘’Please, spare me. I don’t know what your problem is, but if you think I give a crap about your opinion Stark, you should check your head!’’ Jake said, obviously agitated.  
‘’Oh? That seems like it’s something personal. Might telling me what the hell I’ve done to you?’’  
‘’Oh, trust me, you do not want me to get started at that. But I can give you a few clue points. Like blowing my fathers arm off and trying to kill them both. Like building Ultron because you thought you could protect the world by yourself and feeling so guilty you supported this bigoted government into getting the Accords in place. You bet it’s personal, if you weren’t friends with my parents, I would have killed you long ago, because someone that egoistical and hypocritical, that doesn’t even consider other sides of the story will get in my way eventually anyways!’’ Jake snapped at him. ‘’But sure, let’s pretend nothing is wrong. Why don’t you shout some more? I’m sure I’ll find something to shove in your mouth so you stop talking. Just fuckin try me Stark!’’ The boy was obviously fuming with anger now. He left the room and Stark was looking after him, flabbergasted.  
‘’Did you guys have to get into it in the morning?’’, Bucky asked with a sigh. ‘’He just got rid of HYDRA for us, give the guy a break.’’  
‘’Oh yeah. He totally did. Except for the fact that there were missile strikes in over 50 countries, as well as countless assassinations that threw the whole world into disarray because no one knows that happened. Something that might have just started a new world war because every government will suspect their enemies of the deed. That’s not just simple vigilantism. He took it to a global scale. You don’t really think the governments of the world will take that lying down? They will put every man available on finding out who did that. And what are you gonna do when they find out. Find him? Fight the world? Great idea.’’  
‘’We’ll cross that bridge when it’s time’’, Steve said walking out of the elevator. His hair was sleep ruffled, unlike his usual perfect hairstyle and Bucky was hit with the sudden urge to touch it. Badly. He shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts off. He noticed Steve looking at him, a silent ‘are you okay’ in his gaze. Bucky gave him a small smile in return.  
‘’Considering how things are going, that will be rather sooner than later’’ Tony said, turning the TV on. News reports were solely focussed on yesterday’s events, speculating who did it and why, and showing photos of dead bodies and collapsed buildings. Suddenly the screen turned white. A female voice started talking.  
‘’Hello citizens of the world. As you are all watching it, it is being aired all over the world. The recent events have left the world confused and afraid. My name is Alice, and I am here to remedy this. The buildings destroyed as well as every person killed during yesterday’s purge were remnants of HYDRA. As this terror organization was spread all over the world, no single government could have hoped to eradicate them. Which is why our organization stepped in and took care of the problem. HYDRA is no more, another threat to our world is gone for good. The governments of this world might condemn us, accuse us of being criminals. Yet we only did what they did not have the power to do. We eradicated a global threat. I hope you can all understand, that we will keep our identities secret to keep ourselves safe. Since just words are hard to trust, I will now release all the files we found inside the different HYDRA bases. They will prove our story. With this, I shall say farewell. At least for now.’’  
The screen started showing the previous program again. Tony turned the TV off.  
‘’Are you happy now?’’, Jake said while strolling into the room.  
‘’Our organization?’’, Steve asked quietly.  
‘’What else was I supposed to do. Better everyone thinks it was a mysterious organization. No one would believe it was a single person anyways.’’  
‘’And you don’t think it will be suspicious that this organization suddenly showed, defeated HYDRA, and disappeared forever?’’, Tony asked.  
‘’You don’t really think it’s over, do you?’’  
‘’What do you mean?’’ Bucky asked, stricken.  
‘’Oh shit, sorry. Not like that. Hydra is gone for good.’’. Bucky let out a breath he didn’t even notice he was holding. ‘’But I’m not done. There’s still a lot to do. HYDRA weren’t the only bad guys. I’m thinking slave rings next. That or taking care of the Accords.’’  
Steve closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  
‘’You can’t just do such large-scale operations all over the world.’’  
‘’Says who. I’m efficient and ruthless. I weeded out HYDRA by myself. I can do slave rings next. I am not constricted by the rules. That’s why I’ll always be better at that than any government sanctioned agency.’’  
‘’And if others will follow your example? Take the law in their own hand?’’ Tony asked.  
‘’Honestly? I don’t care. I lost my trust in our law enforcement long ago. How is it any different than any of the so-called heroes are doing. Spider-man is running around stopping crimes. So is Daredevil. So are you guys. And none of you work for the government. Its just a bunch of people with powers doing what’s right.’’  
‘’That’s exactly, why I helped with the accords. Because we all need oversight.’’  
Jake let out a bitter laugh. ‘’Maybe we do, but call me once you know someone trustworthy. Because I wouldn’t trust any government with that. They all have corrupt people in places of power somewhere. And even one person is enough, to sabotage everything. You saw how HYDRA did it, for decades. So maybe you’re right. Maybe we need oversight. But I’d rather have some people trying their best and making honest mistakes than being controlled by bigoted pieces of shit that just want power. I’ve been with HYDRA for all my life. And unlike my father, I remember everything. HYDRA just loved renting their assets out to do the bidding of others. And do you know who most of the clients were? Government officials. So, don’t tell me what I can or cannot do. Don’t dabble into things you cannot understand!’’  
‘’Guess we will just have to disagree on that one.’’, Tony said calmly.  
‘’I guess so. So, what now?’’  
‘’If we had met a few years earlier, I would have stopped you. Would have handed you over to SHIELD.’’  
‘’I know. And I would have killed you. I was trained into taking your guys on for years. I know all your weak spots.’’ Jake answered.  
‘’I have a kid now. I can’t agree with what you’re doing and why. But I’m not gonna let my kid growing up without a father. So, it may be selfish, but you did bring down HYDRA. So, you can decrease crime after all. I just hope it won’t backfire. Because this? It will split the world. Spark new discussions. It will change the world.’’  
‘’That’s what they made me for. ‘Shaping the century’, they always told us that’s what their assets are for. But me? I was supposed to change the world forever. I was their best asset and they knew it. They thought, with me on their side they couldn’t just take over the world, they could keep it. I know Pierce actually wanted me to be his successor at some point. He loved the irony. The son of HYDRA’s enemies leading the organization to glory and slaughtering his parents and their friends. Too bad he started to notice I wasn’t as blindly loyal as he thought.’’  
Bucky cringed when he heard the phrase. He often heard Pierce use it. Usually before deploying the asset again. The elevator doors opened. He turned around, startled. Fury stepped out, two agents on his side.  
‘’Okay boy. Give me one good reason to not bring your ass in?’’  
Jake just smirked at the man. ‘’You mean besides not having the means to do so?’’  
If looks could kill, Fury’s glare would have murdered all of them.  
‘’Relax big guy. We both know you’re here because you want some kind of deal from me. And I don’t really want to make SHIELD my enemy. But that means, you have to give me something as well.’’  
‘’We want information. For some reason you seem to have a better network than any known agency.’’  
Jake snorted at that. ‘’That’s because nothing I’m doing is legal, director. But sure. Let’s say I give you information, what do I get?’’  
‘’SHIELD as an ally. That means manpower when you need it on your missions. Considering you hired a vast number of mercenaries to eliminate HYDRA you need that. Also, with mercenaries, you never know where their loyalties lie.’’  
Jake arched his eyebrow. ‘’I’m not sure knowing your guys are loyal to SHIELD first makes it any better.’’  
‘’You can trust that my guys want to do the right thing. Make their own calls to save lives.’’  
‘’Sure, whatever. Not like I can use some of the info anyways. Anything concerning SHIELD or their ops you’ll instantly get. My AI will take care of that. But manpower is not enough.’’  
Fury narrowed his eyes. ‘’What else do you want?’’  
‘’SHIELD…they have a lot of artifacts, right? I want the staff of Tarm’el. I know SHIELD has it stored somewhere.’’  
‘’That’s a powerful artifact’’, Fury said calmly. ‘’We need to consider that first.’’  
Jake openly grinned at that. ‘’Please, you guys have no idea what it does and have it lying around in a container somewhere. You didn’t even know it was of any importance before I mentioned it.’’  
‘’Maybe they don’t, but I do’’, a new voice said.  
Strange stepped out of the open portal. ‘’Which makes it all the more interesting, because it is a sorcerer’s artifact. An artifact stolen a long time ago, but nonetheless belongs to us.’’ He shot Fury a glare at that.  
Jake leaned back in his chair with a moan. ‘’Oh god who called the sorcerer. I can’t stand these guys.’’  
‘’You don’t sound too upset’’ Strange commented,  
‘’Oh, I’m not. I’m always happy to kill one of you’’, Jake said, his eyes aglow.  
‘’Let’s play, shall we?’’


	13. How to gracefully cope with arguments

’STOP THAT!’’, Steve shouted. He moved between the two men.  
‘’You are not seriously considering fighting a teenager right now, do you Strange?’’  
Jake sighed. ‘’Said teenager could easy kick his ass if you would just move out the way. Do you mind?’’  
‘’Do I- Buck help me out here, will ya?’’  
Bucky walked up to the teen and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
‘’I don’t know what happened, but Strange is a friend of ours. Could you just let this one go?’’  
His eyes returned to their usual blue. ‘’I still want the staff. That hasn’t changed. And if she doesn’t want to hand it over, I want her to come here herself instead of sending one of her lackeys.’’  
‘’Excuse me?’’ Strange said.  
‘’The Ancient one. The time for games has long passed. She could at least dedicate some of her oh so precious time to us mere mortals. If you want to keep the staff I want to hear it from her. She owes me that much.’’  
‘’I guess you two had history?’’ Strange said with a pensive expression. ‘’I wasn’t aware she knew of my existence.’’  
‘’Oh, she was probably too busy ignoring us to mention. History, he says’’, Jake shook his head, anger visible on his face. ‘’Yeah, you could call it that.’’  
‘’Then I’m sorry to inform you that she passed away. Which means I took her place as a Sorcerer Supreme.’’  
Jake let out a bitter laugh at that. ‘’Guess karma caught up to her after all. At least some good news for a change.’’  
‘’I don’t care what kind of business you had with my predecessor. I will not let you disrespect her any further. I’d advise you to choose your words carefully from here on, child.’’  
‘’Polite threats, how original. You did learn a lot from that woman it seems. I’m just interested, do you guys breed your Sorcerer Supremes in a special facility or is being an arrogant prick just a requirement for the job? Because I’m starting to see a pattern. Makes me wonder if getting rid of you guys wouldn’t do the world a big service.’’  
Steve looked at Bucky, panic visible in his face. His look said ‘Do something’. Bucky shot an unimpressed glare back. What did the guy even expect him to do? He already was at his emotional capacity after the previous day’s events. Feelings were hard and messy and he was so not in the mood to deal with this shit now. Aaand apparently, he just said all of that out loud. Oops. At least everyone was busy staring at him now. Most of them amused, but Steve was sporting a full-on blush again. Although Jake looked still tense with anger which did not bode anything well.  
‘’You know what? Sure, screw it. I just want the staff. If SHIELD wants me to cooperate, that’s my price. Anything else, you can negotiate yourselves. Don’t think I didn’t notice you just watching this, Fury.’’ With another angry glare he turned around and left.  
He took the elevator down and left the tower. He didn’t feel like talking to anyone right now. Not after everything that woman did. If that man was a friend of his parents, he could accept that. He wasn’t even a part of that world when it happened. But he would never forgive her. He couldn’t. And the staff, seemingly innocent, was vastly important for his plans. He let out a snort. They were all blind. Couldn’t see the bigger picture. But that was okay. He would use that. After all, everything he was doing, was for the greater good. They would come to see that eventually. Shouting pulled him out of his trance. A man ran past him, a woman’s handbag clutched in his hands. Just when he went to stop him, a white sticky something hit the man on his back and pulled him backwards. A guy in a red suit showed up, and stuck him to the wall using that strange white stuff again. He then returned the handbag to the woman. But when he was about to leave, he looked at Jake. Something akin to surprise showed on his face. Which was strange, because he would surely remember someone in a getup that recognizable. No sense of stealth at all. He let out a sigh. Why did all these heroes think they need a giant target on their back. At least Iron Man was bulletproof. And still, his design alone meant that he could easily spot and eliminate the guy from anywhere in the city if needed. That’s what those bullets were actually made for. At that time, he was sure Iron Man would stand in his way one day. And he needed a good way to get through that Armor. The guy wouldn’t even try to dodge a bullet, not with how confident he was about his inventions. But now after meeting the guy…he wasn’t so sure if he’d need to do that anymore. And wasn’t that something. He looked around. The crowd had dispersed again. He sensed something, stepped to the side, ready for battle. A note was stuck to the ground in front of him. ‘meet me on top of the cinema in 30. I’ll grab some food.’ A small bit of that sticky stuff was on top of it. So, the note was from that strange guy…oh well. Not like he had anything to lose. If need be, he was confident he could eliminate him. When he arrived at the cinema, perfectly on time, the guy was already sitting there waiting. The roof top was a big grey square, with a few benches. One of them occupied now.  
‘’Huh, you’re exactly on time. Guess I should have known. You are looking the part after all.’’  
‘’What does that even- Wait, Parker? Is that you in this getup?’’  
‘’Wait, you didn’t know?’’, the other teen said, shock apparent in his voice.  
‘’I thought, since you were in Avengers tower and stuff and you told me you were the Captains son I just-‘’  
Jake let out a quiet laugh. ‘’Assume, yeah. I guessed that much. So, a rooftop meetup with food. What do I owe the honour?’’  
He couldn’t see the teens face, but he’d bet the teen was blushing. How adorable.  
‘’Just saw you there and you looked kind of down. Thought I’d ask what happened.’’  
Jake sat down, next to Peter. ‘’Just some ghosts of my past. You know, the usual.’’  
‘’Was that a pun?’’  
Jake sent him a confused look.  
‘’You know, cause Phantom. Ghost.’’  
Jake groaned. ‘’You’re that kind of guy, aren’t you?’’  
Peter just grinned at him. The guy looked way too happy for a normal Thursday afternoon.  
‘’How come you are here anyways. Weren’t you busy with, I don’t know, heroing?’’  
Peter just shot him an unimpressed glance. ‘’ First of all, that’s not a word. Secondly, I’m doing my hero duty by listening to my fellow citizens trouble, especially if they look like they have no friends.’’  
‘’Hey, that’s not nice, ill have you know-‘’  
‘’Thirdly,’’ Peter continued loudly, ignoring the interruption’’ you are deflecting, don’t think I don’t notice, so why don’t you just tell me. Or don’t, I guess. We could always talk about the weather. Or I could tell you the newest gossip I got straight from grandmas all over New York City. It’s still hot.’’  
‘’Are you seriously trying to threaten to bore me into talking?’’  
‘’Is it working?’’  
‘’I’m seriously considering how to get rid of your body, so if that was your goal.’’  
Peter just grinned at him. ‘’You’re way less intimidating than you think. Especially because I know you like me too much for that.’’  
Jake scowled at that. ‘’We met like three seconds ago and the last time we saw each other we had a huge argument. I wouldn’t count your lucky stars just yet.’’  
‘’Yeah but, I thought about it after, you know? And you know what I realised?’’  
Jake braced himself. ‘’What.’’  
‘’That you’re actually a softie. Because for all your grumpy act you just wanted to look out for me and my friends and family. You just wanted to help.’’  
‘’You do realise I killed 300 people with my bare hands and painted the whole base red with body parts as deco?’’  
Peter visibly gulped at that. ‘’Now I know. Also, these people were HYDRA, right?’’.  
Jake sighed at that. ‘’Nah. Just a mission. Hydra lent me to these guys. Local army. Wanted to show their power so they burned down a city. I didn’t take to that. Told HYDRA they betrayed us. They believed me.’’  
‘’You lost someone that day, didn’t you?’’  
He turned around, startled. ‘’How did you-?’’  
Peter just gave him a bitter smile. ‘’Wasn’t too hard to find out.’’  
Jake shot him a pensive glance. ‘’You surprise me you know?’’  
‘’How?’’, Peter asked, amusement clear in his voice.  
‘’First time I met you, I thought you were so innocent. Guess you’ve seen some shit yourself, haven’t you?’’  
Peter just let out a noncommittal hum.  
‘’I also gotta say, you’re surprisingly chill with all the killing I did, considering your stance on it last time we talked.’’  
‘’You grew up with HYDRA. That’s what they taught you. Doesn’t mean I think it’s right or that you can’t change.’’  
‘’Like I said. You surprise me.’’, he said, a small smile on his face.  
They set there in silence, just eating and watching the sky and the birds. It was weird for Jake. He wasn’t used to companiable silence. After growing up in HYDRA, where silence always meant upcoming punishment it made him tense. That was the first time he had relaxed in silence in a long time. Last time that happened- He tensed at the memory of white and stood up quickly.  
‘’You okay?’’  
‘’Sorry, I forgot I had some stuff to take care off. I gotta go.’’  
He didn’t have to look at Peters face to know the teen didn’t buy his excuse.  
‘’Give me your phone.’’  
‘’What?’’  
‘’C’mon gimme.’’  
He handed it over with a sigh.  
‘’There, now you have my number. Next time you want to brood, hit me up.’’  
‘’Don’t you have anything better to do?’’, Jake asked with a smirk.  
Peter walked up to the edge of the roof. ‘’Just looking out for my fellow citizens’’, he winked at Jake and jumped from the roof, leaving the other teen gaping after him.  
What a weird guy, he thought to himself. But it had been a long time since he wasn’t able to read a person. And something about Peter was special. He found himself looking forward to find out what exactly. He hated not knowing. It was one of his pet peeves. He shook his head, amused. Without him even noticing the teen had managed to get him out of his head. Yeah, he was looking forward to solving that particular mystery.


	14. How to gracefully cope with bonding with your kid

‘’So, what now?’’, Bucky asked.  
‘’Now, I’d like the staff’’, Strange said, looking at Fury.  
‘’The artifact belongs to the government for a long time now. I’m afraid I can’t just hand it over. I’m sure you understand.’’  
‘’But you were about to hand it over to that kid?’’, Strange asked, bewildered.  
‘’I have the authority to use any and all artifacts to guarantee this countries safety. A trade would fall into that category.’’, Fury explained calmly.  
‘’The artifact has belonged to us, long before SHIELD even existed. If we had known you had it, we would have gotten it back long ago. So, I’d advise you to give it to us right now, as well as any other of our artifacts you have.’’, Strange said.  
The two men stared at each other quietly. Fury sighed. ‘’I’m sure something can be arranged. You did help us out in the past after all. But are you sure about that? You are gonna make an enemy out of him doing that.’’  
Strange snorted. ‘’I think I can handle a child.’’  
Fury just turned around and left at that. Steve, standing next to Bucky whispered to him ‘’ I have a bad feeling about this.’’. Bucky just nodded in silent agreement. He also had a very bad feeling about all of this. But what was he supposed to do?  
‘’We didn’t bring you here to fight him, you know?’’, Tony said. ‘’Well, unless he’s an impostor. Then fight away. But how are you gonna find out now that he’s gone?’’  
Strange turned around. ‘’Checking him was the first thing I did. He doesn’t seem to use any illusion spells. But…something is off.’’  
‘’Off?’’, Steve asked cautiously. They were all on edge after what happened the last time.  
‘’Nothing bad it’s just…I can’t get a read on where his power comes from. It’s like there’s a huge chunk of power inside him he can access, but I can’t sense anything coming from inside him. Which is very strange.’’  
Bucky let out a relieved sigh. He could live with that. Another impostor would have been a lot harder to cope with. Steve squeezed his shoulder. Sometimes he was amazed by how well the guy could read him. He always seemed to know what to do. It just reminded him how careful he had to be if he didn’t want to be found out. He couldn’t bear to lose that friendship. And now that they had a kid…at least he could have this. That was way more than he ever hoped for. After all it was a miracle of sorts. Something that came from Steve and him. He had tried to keep his distance, not get too involved, not while he didn’t know if the teen wasn’t another impostor. He knew Jake noticed. But now that he was sure…he would be doing his best to protect his kid. Because that’s exactly what he was, he marvelled. Steve gave him a nudge. He turned to him; questioning look on his face.  
‘’You look like you’re thinking something sappy.’’  
And to Bucky’s unending horror, he blushed at that like a schoolgirl. So, he did what any reasonable adult would do. He turned around and left quickly. He was always good at avoiding his problems after all. He knew the others probably still talked to Strange about what he sensed and saw before Jake left, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. He only had one pressing question, and that got answered. He was done.  
When he entered his apartment, he noticed how tired he was, so he decided to take a nap.

When he woke up a few hours later it was already evening. He was handed a cup of coffee.  
‘’Slept well?’’, Jake asked.  
‘’Had a nice walk?’’, Bucky countered.  
‘’Surprisingly yes. Hang around a few rooftops. Ate some pizza. The usual.’’  
‘’You do realise that you’re a walking cliché after that, right?  
He grinned at the indignant look on Jake’s face.  
‘’Calm down, buddy.’’  
‘’I’m just stating, for protocol that this was unusual and cruel. I’m gonna file a complaint.’’  
‘’To who?’’  
‘’Maybe Steve. He looks like he could keep you in line.’’ Jake said with a smirk.  
‘’Steve? Please tell me you’re not buying into that Cap persona. That guy is a way bigger trouble maker than I could ever hope to be.’’  
‘’Oh, please tell me more’’, Jake said, inching closer.  
That’s how they spent the evening, talking way into the night. Nothing serious, just trading stories and making each other laugh. They decided to go to bed at around 4 a.m. Jake took the guest room. A few hours later he woke up, when he heard steps in the corridor. He sneaked out of his room, ready to take on any intruders, just to find Steve in the living room, obviously startled.  
‘’Did I wake you?’’, he asked apologetically.  
‘’Care to explain what you are doing here at 8 a.m.?’’  
‘’It was time for my morning run. I just wanted to check on Bucky.’’  
‘’Ridiculous’’, Jake muttered under his breath.  
‘’What?’’  
‘’Oh, nothing. Mind taking me with? Now that I’m awake I won’t be sleeping anyways.’’  
‘’You want to go running?’’  
‘’Don’t get used to it. I just have nothing better to do.’’  
Steve just gave him a knowing grin in answer. And yeah, that guy was completely ridiculous. Jake probably would never understand him. But that wasn’t a bad thing, he guessed.  
‘’Wanna switch into running gear then?’’  
‘’Even if I had that, I don’t think I’d need it to beat you.’’  
‘’Is that’s how it’s gonna be?’’  
‘’Guess so. You better not disappoint me out there.’’  
He walked past Steve shooting him a teasing smirk.  
When they arrived downstairs, Sam was waiting already. When he saw the both of them, he just said ‘’Aw, hell no.’’  
‘’What, afraid to lose to a guy half your age Wilson?’’  
‘’First of all, you are enhanced so that match up is already. Second of all, having two super soldiers in my run means I’ll probably won’t be moving anytime soon after.’’  
Jake just gave him an unimpressed stare. ‘’Don’t worry, ill be your knight in shining armour and carry your frail black princess ass back into the tower.’’  
Steve doubled over laughing at that while Sam looked flabbergasted.  
‘’Are you guys coming or what?’’, Jake said with a wink.  
‘’Should have known your boy was as much of a shit as you’’, Sam grumbled, which just set Steve off again.  
The run itself was a lot more enjoyable than Jake expected, even if Sam was right and after trying to join a few races between Jake and Steve was just lying on the ground, breathing heavily.  
‘’Oh, c’mon you big baby. Aren’t you supposed to be a trained superhero?’’, Jake asked, crouching down over Sam.  
‘’I’m not enhanced, asshole’’, Sam gasped out between heavy breaths.  
Jake just rolled his eyes at that and sat down next to him. Steve joined them after a few minutes as well. They just sat in silence, watching the park around them.  
‘’I used to hate them, y’know?’’, Jake said.  
‘’Hate who?’’, Steve asked, obviously confused.  
‘’People. I used to watch them a lot. On missions. Between missions. They were so free. Often happy. I was so jealous, I hated them. I didn’t even mind killing them. They meant nothing to me after all. And unlike me, they got to live their lives in freedom. I didn’t have that. Not even for a day.’’  
‘’Why are you telling me this?’’, Steve asked cautiously.  
‘’Because I want you to know, that freedom is the most important thing for me. And we both know, if the government ever finds out who I am…what I did…there’s no way they are gonna leave me alone. Let me be free. And when that happens. When they send people after me, I won’t come quietly. I will fight, and I will kill every single agent they send after me. And then, they will ask you to stop me.’’  
Steve pursed his lips at that. Sam leaned up against a tree and watched both of them, a carefully blank expression on his face.  
‘’You did kill those people, you know? I’m sure Steve could strike a deal for you.’’  
Jake shot him a challenging glare. ‘’Yeah, I did. So what?’’, he let out a bitter laugh. ‘’If I hadn’t done it, they would have sent someone else. I don’t feel bad about what I did. And if I could have gone back, I wouldn’t have changed those decisions. Because that’s what lead me here, with HYDRA gone and in freedom. I’m just telling you that, so you realise how important it is to keep my identity as Phantom hidden. I’m already working on resolving this mess. But I need time. If anything goes out before I’m ready…let’s just say a lot of blood will flow.’’  
‘’That doesn’t really strike confidence you know? You make it sound like a threat.’’, Sam said.  
‘’Please. I wouldn’t hurt any of you. At least not unless you try to attack me. But even then, I wouldn’t kill you. I’m gonna take care of this. But I won’t let anyone take me in. I don’t plan on letting myself be judged by this government.’’  
‘’So, you think you’re above the law?’’, Sam said angrily.  
‘’No…I don’t believe in the law. I don’t believe in the government. All my life I had to act like I was told, follow rules, be a good obedient puppet. And slowly, very slowly, I started removing my strings, until they were none left. And no one noticed. If anyone had, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’ve played it through in my head a lot of times. There’s no way I could strike a deal with the government to be free. Which means I only have one chance. And honestly, I think Bucky will be on board with it. Steve will either love it or hate it. I’m not sure about the rest of you guys. But I’m not just doing this for myself. I said it once, and I will say it again. They made me to change the world, and that’s exactly what I am going to do. Just not in the way they intended me to.’’  
Steve, who was just sitting quietly up until then let out a sigh.  
‘’And you’re not gonna be telling us anything about that plan of yours until it’s started, right?’’  
Jake just shot him a small smile in answer. Sam looked obviously dissatisfied with how that conversation went but decided to let it drop.  
‘’Let’s go back then?’’, he asked. And just like that, in silent agreement they went back to the way they were before the conversation. Teasing and laughing all the way back to the tower. And Jake thought to himself, even if that life was fragile, not going to last, he would enjoy the peace while it lasted. But that wouldn’t stop him. He had his heart set on his plan, and he wouldn’t let anything, wouldn’t let anyone stop him.


	15. How to gracefully cope with sorcerers

When they came back, Bucky was awake. ‘’You went running?’’, Bucky asked, disdain clear in his voice. Jake couldn’t help but grin at his tone.  
‘’I wasn’t sleeping anyways. I’m not planning to make it a regular thing, but it was surprisingly nice.’’  
‘’Surprisingly?’’, Steve asked teasingly. ‘’I’ll have you know a lot of people would kill for a chance to go for a run with me.’’  
Jake shot him a dry look. ‘’Well, first of all those people just want to stare at your ass when you’re running in front of them, and secondly, they probably would die. I mean, I pity Sam for having to try to keep up with your enhanced ass every day. Don’t tell him that though.’’  
Steve blushing was unsurprising, what he didn’t expect was Bucky blushing too. And wasn’t that interesting. How Steve hadn’t realised anything, he couldn’t understand. But then again, his parents apparently sucked at communication.  
‘’Shower, then breakfast?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Sure’’  
‘’What do you want?’’, Bucky asked cautiously.  
‘’What’s on the menu?’’, Jake countered.  
‘’I could make pancakes?’’  
‘’Sure, that sounds great’’, Jake said with a smile.  
Soon after they were sitting at the table in the kitchen and eating pancakes, talking and laughing. Until Jake just stopped midbite and stared at his fork in confusion.  
‘’Everything okay?’’, Bucky asked.  
‘’Yeah, it’s just…this is so normal. Feels weird.’’  
‘’Good weird or bad weird?’’, Steve asked.  
Jake went silent at that before he answered a few seconds later. ‘’Good weird.’’  
Steve and Bucky smiled at each other at that.  
‘’What do I even call you guys though? Because, sorry, but calling you Steve and Bucky, does feel weird considering our…. relation.’’  
Bucky blinked a few times at that. He hadn’t thought about that. Having a kid with Steve. It was like straight out of his dreams. Except for the part where he was with Steve a lot more intimately than it was currently the case. Still, if that was as close as he could get to a white picket fence life with Steve he sure wouldn’t mind.  
‘’What would you want to call us then? I mean, we are your parents after all. Even if it’s still a bit surreal. I’m fine with anything to be honest. Buck?’’  
‘’Yeah, sure’’. Bucky said, still lost in thoughts of his dream life with Steve.  
Jake nodded pensively. ‘’Then…Dad for Bucky and…Pa for Steve? Would that be okay?’’  
Steve smiled gently at him. ‘’If that’s what you want.’’  
The teen looked uncharacteristically shy at that. ‘’Yeah, I think that would be good.’’  
Suddenly he turned around, eyes aglow. ‘’Has no one taught you listening to other people’s conversation is impolite, sorcerer?’’  
Strange appeared through a portal. ‘’Relax, child. I just didn’t want to interrupt an important moment. I didn’t come to spy on you.’’  
‘’Could’a fooled me’’, Jake muttered under his breath. Steve grinned at how much that reminded him of Bucky. Meanwhile Bucky kicked his shin. He knew his friend well enough to know what he was thinking.  
‘’This is a visit of courtesy, nothing more. You said you had history with my former mentor. And I now have the staff you wanted. Tell me the truth and I might give it to you.’’  
Jake looked at him unbelievingly. ‘’Just like that? You want me to believe one of you would do something that won’t benefit them? Or do you want something from me in exchange after all?’’  
Strange pursed his lips at that. ‘’You seem to have a very bad impression of us sorcerers. I want to know why.’’  
Jake looked at him, assessing. ‘’Sure. It’s not like it’s a secret. I’ll tell you what your people have done that made me hate them so. But I have to warn you. Once you know, there’s no going back. Are you ready for that?’’  
Strange just nodded at him. Jake stood up and walked to the living room. He sat down on a couch. Steve, Bucky and Strange followed him, and sat down on the other couches. Jake closed his eyes, and remembered.

_There were 35 of them at the start. 35 of them in that room every night. But sleep was never hard to get. They learned early what being noisy would get them. Lately, they started to run experiments on them. They wanted to make them better. They latest experiment was a success. They didn’t let them know. They didn’t let anyone know. They were solidary towards each other, realising that their new power gave them a big advantage. They could now communicate without talking. Just send their thoughts out for others to listen to. So, the practiced, at night. Telling stories, making plans until deep in the night. Until one day, there was an answer to a thought they sent out. An answer from an outsider. He told them he was a sorcerer. He was on a mission to recover a lost artifact. Every night, he talked to them. He told them stories, taught them things. He told them about his work, about his magic, about the outside world. And he told them about the sorcerers, About the Ancient One. And he promised them, he promised that once he returned, he would tell her. And she would save them. Their days continued like usual, but now, at night they were making plans. Dreaming of the outside world. Of getting back what HYDRA took from them. Back then, Jake was sceptical. He didn’t know, what a life without HYDRA was like. He was the only one born there. Everyone else had been stolen. They had known love. They had known freedom. HYDRA had taken it from them, and they wanted it back. More than anything. Jake had overheard the guards. He knew they would soon have to start killing each other. Making the group smaller. But if they managed to escape…that would be all pointless. But Jake was nothing if not cautious. So, he continued training. And he didn’t dare to hope. Then the day came. The sorcerer’s mission was complete. And then…silence. For days, then weeks. He could see it. He could sense it. They grew desperate, the more time passed. Their thoughts they sent out became louder and louder, like screams. Until one day, they got an answer. It was a female voice. She told them she was sorry. That she knew the pain they were in. But that she wasn’t allowed to meddle in human things. That saving them would change the course of history, that she could not risk that. That day, Jake learned. He learned what despair looked like. He felt their pain. And he made a decision. If the Ancient One couldn’t set them free, couldn’t save them of the pain, then he would. He waited until everyone was asleep, then he stood up. Quietly, efficiently. Just the way he was taught. He made it as painless as possible. Not all of them died in their sleep. Some woke up. But there was no fire in their eyes. They didn’t try to fight him. They just waited their turn. When it was over, he was covered in blood. He made to cover everything else too. The walls, the ceiling. Threw the bodies around, make it look like it was an act of violence, not one of mercy. Then he sat down on the bed and waited for the sunrise. And in that moment, he learned another thing. He learned what silence was._

When he finished his story, he looked around. Strange was wearing a carefully stony expression. His parents were trying to stay calm, but he saw their eyes glistening. He sighed and leaned back.  
‘’HYDRA took everything from them. Their life. Their freedom. Love. They wanted to break them. And day for day, they endured it. Day for day they kept fighting. But you sorcerers…You gave them hope, gave them light. And then you cast them back into darkness. I ended their lives. But I didn’t kill them. You sorcerers did that. The nice sorcerer, that made empty promises, and the Ancient One, that told us we weren’t worth saving. And for that’’, he leaned forward, and stared Strange in the eyes.’’ For that I will never forgive her.’’  
‘’The artifact, that sorcerer was recovering…’’  
Jake gave a sad smile. ‘’It was the staff of Tarm’el. The start of all of this.’’  
Strange stood up and opened a portal. ‘’I will tell Fury you can have the staff. I won’t apologize on her behalf. She wouldn’t have wanted me to. I understand where she came from. But at least I can do that.’’ He walked through the portal and left.  
‘’Why didn’t you tell us?’’, Bucky asked, voice rough.  
‘’I can see it, you know? The way you look at me, the way you look at each other. There’s so much guilt there. I just…didn’t want to add to it. Let bygones be bygones…that’s what they say right? The look you have in your eyes right now, that’s what I wanted to avoid. I don’t want to hurt you more. Not when I can avoid it.’’  
‘’That’s not your job!’’, Steve said angrily.’’ It’s our job as parents to protect you! Not the other way around!’’  
Jake just silently went over to him, hugged his face to his chest, and pressed a kiss to his hair. ‘’Protecting…that’s all I know, that’s all I ever wanted to do. Protecting the people that are important to me…to me that’s everything. If you want to protect me too, I won’t stop you, but I’m used to dealing alone with everything. I won’t suddenly start to tell you everything, you need to understand that. Especially painful stuff like that.’’  
He stepped back, went over to Bucky and gave him a kiss to the cheek. ‘’Take care of each other, alright? We can talk about everything later. You need each other now. He left the apartment and went to his room in Steve’s apartment. He took out his phone to make a call.  
‘’Did I interrupt something important?’’  
‘’Good, then, would you wanna hang out? Like right now? I’m suddenly free.’’

When he arrived at the rooftop, Peter was there already. This time with tacos.  
‘’Bad day?’’, he asked.  
‘’You did tell me to call if I wanna brood. Thought I’d take you up on it.’’  
Peter just hummed at that. ‘’Honestly, I didn’t expect you to. You pretty much ran away last time.’’  
Jake let out a bitter laugh at that. ‘’That might happen again, sooner than you know. I think I have that one from my Dad. He also runs from his problems.’’  
‘’You know, I’ll listen if you wanna talk right?’’  
Jake shot him an unimpressed look. Peter raised his hands in surrender.  
‘’I’m just saying. But sure, have it your way. What did you have in mind?’’  
‘’I was thinking chilling a bit here and catch a movie in a bit? I’ll pay, don’t worry.’’  
‘’I can pay for myself!’’, Peter argued.  
‘’Sure, but then I’m paying you back for every time you brought me food.’’  
‘’Point taken.’’  
When he got back in the evening, he was surprised how much he enjoyed himself. He felt a lot better as well. With a smile, he took out his phone again and shot off a text.  
_Thanks for today. Needed to get my mind off of things._  
_Anytime. Just hit me up whenever_ ^-^  
Jake snorted. That guy was such a dork. Suddenly his eyes widened. He had made his first friend and hadn’t even noticed. Maybe he was becoming a bit more normal after all. He wondered how long all that would last. Because as nice as this bubble was, he knew it couldn’t, wouldn’t hold.


	16. How to gracefully cope with family breakfast

‘’We need to talk’’, Bucky told him. He didn’t want to do it as much as Steve did. But if Jake was right…if Steve blamed himself…no he could see it in Steve’s eyes. Could see that Jake said the truth. No wonder their son thought he had to protect them. Thought they were too fragile to handle his pain on top of their own. Steve just looked at him tiredly. ‘’Okay’’, he said quietly. It hurt Bucky, that timid tone of his voice. The hurt. But he had to go through this. For Steve’s sake as well.  
‘’I’m not…wait let me think. Okay, let’s make it simple. You need to see someone. I mean, I do and as much as I complain about it, it does help.’’  
‘’That’s it?’’  
‘’I mean, I could tell you that it wasn’t your fault. That you shouldn’t blame yourself. That no one else does. But that wouldn’t help anything, would it?’’ He gave Steve a small, sad smile, that his friend returned.  
‘’No, I guess it wouldn’t.’’  
‘’So, will you?’’  
‘’I’ll think about it.’’  
‘’Steve I…you’re not okay. I mean, none of us are, but at least I’m seeing someone and Jake is…okay I actually don’t know what Jake does and we will probably need to address that eventually. But HYDRA, they took everything from me, y’know? You’re all I have. And I’ve seen what that shit does to people. I’m not gonna lose you again. Last time I lost you it almost killed me.’’  
It was the closest he ever got to telling Steve what he meant to Bucky. It would be so easy now. Just a step. But he couldn’t do that now. This was about Steve, not about him.  
‘’It’s that important to you?’’  
‘’Yeah’’  
‘’Okay.’’  
Bucky just went over and pulled him into a hug.  
They just sat on the couch, hugging each other until they fell asleep.

Jake woke up after a few hours. After his mother’s enhancement he only needed 2 hours of sleep to work at maximum efficiency. Which made the night hours perfect to work on his project. First of all, he let Alice check the tower for anyone awake. Apparently Stark was still in his workshop but the man wouldn’t check on him anyways. So, he was clear. He breathed in the clear night air. Time to go to work. He put his comm in. ‘’Alice, Status update?’’. ‘’Targets are in place. You have 30 minutes.’’ Jake nodded and snapped his fingers. His Phantom uniform appeared. He opened a portal and went through. He came out in front of an elevator. He went down the corridor, and entered a conference room. Revlers Pharmaceuticals. A boring company on paper. No scandals, always working proper. Too bad the executives used it to wash their slave ring money. They did it well. No one had noticed for decades. He entered the room, pistol.   
‘’Who are you?’’, a woman asked. ‘’I’m gonna call security.’’  
He shot her in the head. Then he killed the others. Everyone except the chief. He sighed.  
‘’So, what are we gonna do with you, Albert?’’  
‘’Please, I can pay you. I have a lot of money. No matter who sent you, I can pay more.’’  
Jake slapped a piece of paper in front of him. ‘’Sign.’’  
‘’What is it? If I don’t-‘’  
He shot the man in the arm. ‘’Sign or die, your choice.’’  
The man signed. He shot him in the head. ‘’Always pleasant to work with you. Good night gentlemen.’’  
He left the building. When the police entered the building the next day, they found a message on the wall, written with the blood of the dead people in the room: ‘’Welcome to Wonderland.’’  
After exiting the building, he made his way to his motel room. He showered, made a few calls. The preparations were going smoothly. It was now time for everyone in the tower to slowly wake up. He opened a portal and returned.  
He made his way down to Bucky’s apartment. As he expected his parents were sitting at the table, eating breakfast. When they saw him, they smiled and waved him over.  
‘’Slept well?’’, Bucky asked.  
‘’Shouldn’t I ask you that?’’, Jake asked with a smirk. ‘’Don’t think I didn’t notice Steve’s apartment staying empty yesterday.’’  
They both blushed at that. Jake just rolled his eyes. Ridiculous, that’s what they were. In the background the TV was running. Bucky looked at the screen, interested. He increased the volume.   
‘’Another day, another horrific crime scene. This one too falls into the pattern of the organization now widely known as ‘’Wonderland’’. Namesake of their catchphrase, which is left at every crime scene. Always written with the blood of their victims. This time, the victims were all part of the board of Revlers Pharmaceuticals. The widely well-regarded company took a giant hit, not just because of losing their board, but also because at the scene proof connecting them to one of the largest human trafficking rings in the country was found. There had been multiple investigations into the corporation, yet no proof could be found, so the investigation was abandoned multiple times. This just furthers widens the gap in public opinion of ‘’wonderland’’. Some think their purges are doing what the government cannot, but the fact of the matter is that they get their proof illegally and execute the perpetrators on spot, thus creating a dangerous precedent. The police are still willing to pay 10.000$ us for any hints that lead to capture of this highly dangerous organization. So far there has been a lot of speculation about what this organization’s motivations are, yet there has been no information on them except their message they leave wherever they operate so far. On different news, we just received the information that CEO Walter Revler’s testament had been opened, and the man had decided to give all his funds to charity, leaving nothing for his family. His wife is outraged and claims the testament fake, so it will be examined before further proceedings.’’  
‘’Still nothing, huh?’’, Steve muttered.  
‘’You don’t like their work?’’, Jake asked carefully.  
‘’I get what they’re doing. And why. I just don’t think it’s the right way. There’s too much bloodshed. Why kill off the whole executive board, just alerting police with the proof, even it was provided illegally would have made continuing their operations impossible. Not with police watching. Now their families are left without mothers or fathers and yet everyone will forget this soon, as the focus of the news is on ‘’Wonderland’’, not whatever these people had been doing.’’, Steve said  
‘’I’m just wondering if that is all’’, Bucky muttered.  
‘’What do you mean?’’, Jake asked.  
‘’I don’t know, it just feels like we are all missing something. Like there is a bigger picture.’’  
‘’And what would that be?’’  
‘’I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows. And isn’t that a scary thought?’’  
‘’What a great start in the day’’, Jake remarked dryly.  
‘’Yeah, let’s change the topic’’, Steve said.  
‘’So, what happened yesterday after I left? I left because I thought you needed some privacy, but anything else you wanted to talk about?’’  
He saw Steve going tense. Bucky placed a hand on his shoulder.  
‘’Steve agreed to see a therapist as well.’’  
‘’Yeah, I think that would be for the best.’’  
‘’And I think you should see one too.’’  
‘’Excuse me, what?’’, Jake said, outraged.  
‘’You just said it’s good for Steve. Why not for you? Do you think you’re better than him?’’  
Jake narrowed his eyes at that. ‘’Even if I agreed. Hypothetically. There’s still no way it would work. You forget I don’t even exist officially. And even if I did, there’s a lot of stuff I would never tell anyone anyways. A lot of stuff that no one needs to hear. Also, unlike you guys, I grew up in HYDRA. I never knew anything else. That’s not something a therapist could take care of. I’m…maybe not fine. But I’m coping fine. And right now, I work on getting myself officially ‘’alive’’ without getting locked up or working for the government.’’  
‘’When are you even doing that?’’, Bucky asked, confused. ‘’Because I never see you doing it.’’  
‘’Whenever I’m not with you guys or Peter. Which actually reminds me, there is someone else I want you guys to meet.’’  
‘’Who?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’My sister.’’, Jake answered.  
Bucky almost spit out his coffee at that. ‘’Your what?!’’  
Jake rolled his eyes. ‘’Not biological. Chill.’’  
They visibly relaxed at that. ‘’So how come?’’  
‘’Her parents were a mission. She saw it. The mission parameters included eliminating all witnesses, but I thought it’s a waste. So, I got her out of there. Got her a new identity, a new life. She was the first I did that for. We stayed in contact after that. Became close. She’s family now.’’  
‘’And she’s in New York?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Yeah, I gotta give her a call. We haven’t seen each other in person in…damn, it has been 15 years now. HYDRA had me frozen. Ugh, that means she is thirty-three now. She used to be just two years older. Still, family’s family.’’  
‘’Okay then’’, Bucky said. ‘’You want her to come over here?’’  
‘’Yeah, I can just drop her a portal. Wouldn’t be good if anyone saw her come here.’’  
‘’Why?’’, Steve asked, frowning.  
‘’She’s the CEO of White Industries.’’  
‘’Isn’t that the corporation that took over the weapon industry after Stark Industries switched to making armour and renewable energy?’’, Bucky asked.  
‘’Yep. Now imagine the headlines if anyone saw her show up at the Avenger’s tower.’’  
‘’Yeah okay. Portal sounds like a good idea.’’, Steve remarked.  
‘’Great, I’ll just give her a call? Knowing her she works too much anyways. Time to take a day off.’’  
‘’You just decided that for her?’’, Bucky snorted.  
‘’Well if I don’t, who will? Be right back.’’ He stood up and left the room.  
‘’A sister, huh?’’, Steve said.  
‘’I’m happy about it though. Means he wasn’t alone all the time’’, Bucky said.  
‘’Yeah…’’, Steve said, squeezing Bucky’s shoulder.  
When he re-entered the room, there was a woman trailing behind him. She had long white hair, a delicate face with long eyelashes that made her look royal, and brown eyes. She was slender and average sized, but her presence was incredible. She looked like a woman that could take over a room in seconds. She eyed the men carefully. ‘’So, you are his parents…I have to say that was rather unexpected.’’  
‘’I think everyone was surprised about that…I mean how often have you heard a child having two biological fathers’’, Bucky said.  
‘’True I guess.’’ She moved towards the men and extended her hand for a handshake. After shaking both of the men’s hands she sat down at the table.  
‘’So, what are your plans now?’’  
‘’What exactly-‘’  
‘’With him I meant. You know what he did. Are you gonna turn him in? Even if you are his biological parents, you didn’t ask for a child, didn’t even know about him. It wouldn’t be strange if you didn’t want him in your life now.’’  
‘’Blake-‘’, Jake started.  
‘’You seem to have some opinions about this already.’’ Bucky stated. ‘’But whether we knew about him or not, he is our child. We’re not gonna get rid of him. You seem to forget I was HYDRA too for a while. I can understand him. At least a bit.’’  
‘’Happy now?’’, Jake asked her angrily. ‘’that’s not what I brought you here for.’’  
‘’I had to be sure they treat you well if I’m gonna leave you here’’, she said defensively.  
Jake rolled his eyes. ‘’ You are ridiculous. Want a tour of the tower now?’’  
‘’Thought you’d never ask’’, She said, giving him an innocent smile.  
‘’Yeah, yeah. Let’s go. Might as well meet the rest of the Avengers. At least the ones that are here right now.’’  
‘’Please tell me they have a shooting range. Because after yesterday I really want to shoot at things for a while.’’  
‘’What happened yesterday?’’, Bucky asked. ‘’Also, yes, we have a shooting range. I also like to use it for that purpose.’’  
‘’Huh. Okay then big guy, bring me there. I came here to meet you guys after all. I know Jake way too well anyways.’’  
‘’Hey!’’  
She rolled her eyes and left the room Bucky in tow. Then she stopped in the door and looked at Steve. ‘’You comin’, Blondie?’’  
Jake and Bucky both had to hold back their laughter at Steve’s incredulous look.  
‘’Me?!’’, he squeaked. She just waved him over and left the room. Bucky and Jake finally broke down laughing at his confusion. A decent start, Jake thought. He was really hoping Blake could get along with everyone. He trusted her the most after all.


	17. How to gracefully cope with flashbacks

Jake caught her alone a few hours later. ‘’So, what do you think?’’  
‘’You were right to call me’’, she said. ‘’You need to keep your head in the game. Don’t forget the plan.’’  
‘’Don’t forget it’s my plan.’’  
‘’Yet I am here risking everything for it. Strange, isn’t it?’’  
‘’Just tell me what you think.’’  
‘’They’re clear. They won’t get in our way.’’  
‘’None of them?’’  
‘’Stark is always a risk, but he has a kid now. So, no. I don’t think anyone will interfere. You’re sure you don’t want to get your parents on board? They’d be a great help.’’  
‘’I said no already. This is my fight.’’  
‘’Then talk to the Witch. Get closer to her. Get her in. She will help us. Don’t forget HYDRA had her too. And she lost her brother during the Ultron fight. She will be receptive to our plan.’’  
‘’And if she isn’t? If she decides to betray us?’’  
Blake sighed. ‘’If you still hold onto these silly standards of yours, you’ll have to imprison her for a while and move the plan forward. But I don’t think she would do that. Even if she won’t be helping, she won’t be getting in the way. If I thought differently, I wouldn’t have told you to get her to join us. That’s just my opinion of course, but isn’t that why you brought me here?’’  
Jake let out a heavy breath, ‘’Okay. Everything is going as planned. Are you finishing your part?’’  
Blake just gave him a dangerous grin. ‘’Who do you take me for?’’  
He rolled his eyes at her. ‘’Okay then.’’  
She went silent. ‘’They are nice people’’, she suddenly remarked.  
‘’Who?’’, Jake asked, wearing a stony expression.  
She ignored him. ‘’You still have a chance. You could stop this. Just stay here.’’  
‘’Stay in hiding you mean.’’  
‘’Would it be that bad?’’  
‘’I spent years in hiding, I’m done with that life. I’m gonna reveal myself. And when I do, woe those who think they can stop me.’’  
She let out a small smile at that. ‘’Always so dramatic.’’  
He snorted. ‘’Would you want it any other way?’’  
She just stepped closer and hugged him. ‘’Be careful. You only have one chance. There is no backup plan.’’  
Jake just opened a portal for her.

When he went to Bucky’s apartment, they both were there watching TV.  
‘’Where’s Blake?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Had to go back. She’s a CEO after all.’’  
‘’Tell her she’s always welcome here.’’, Bucky said.  
‘’You liked her then?’’  
‘’Sure, but I gotta say, for a civilian her aim is kind of scary. You sure she has no training?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Honestly, I’m not sure and I’m not gonna ask. She wouldn’t tell me anyways.’’  
‘’Yeah, maybe that’s for the better.’’  
‘’Anyways, what are you guys watching?’’  
‘’Just a comedy. Wanna watch with?’’  
Jake shrugged and sat down next to them.  
His talk with Wanda could wait. For now.

He didn’t talk to her the next day. Or the one after. He spent the time with his parents, with Peter. And at night, he kept up his work as well. Soon, ‘’Wonderland’’ became a common topic in the news. And just like that another week passed. He checked his phone and saw a message from Peter. He headed up to their usual meeting place, the roof, with a few drinks. As always Peter was waiting up there with food. This time he brought lasagne. He still refused to let Jake for the food, so Jake started to bring drinks instead. He noticed Peter was in a somber mood today.   
‘’You okay?’’, Jake asked.  
‘’That obvious?’’  
‘’I mean, you look like someone just ran over your dog. So yeah.’’  
‘’If only it were that simple…’’  
Jake got more alert at that. It didn’t bode well. ‘’Come on. You can tell me.’’ He gave the other teen an encouraging smile.  
‘’Went on patrol today. Found a corpse. Girl, around our age. Some assholes raped her then bashed her head in. And I was too late. Way too late.’’  
Jake sighed at that. ‘’Sure sucks.’’  
Peter gave him a strange look at that,  
‘’What did you expect me to say? ‘it’s not your fault, you can’t save everyone?’ I mean, sure, that too, but I doubt those platitudes would help. What happened was awful. And its gonna happen again. But at least, you’re saving everyone you can. So things like these happen less.’’  
Peter just stared at him, contemplating. ‘’You’re really way nicer than you let on, aren’t you?’’  
Jake shoved him at that. ‘’Don’t go spilling my secrets. But seriously, want me to come patrol with you some?’’  
‘’Don’t you have to lie low?’’, he asked, taken aback.  
‘’Please. I could hit anywhere in the city from the tower. I just need the coordinates. You have an AI in your suit, right? I can’t patrol with you physically but we can talk and I can assist. Should make things easier. I don’t even need you to do anything, I’ll have your AI scan and provide coordinates to it.’’  
Peter smiled at that. ‘’You already had that plan all laid out, haven’t you?’’  
Jake rolled his eyes. ‘’Oh, shut up.’’  
‘’Okay then, partner.’’ He offered him his hand.  
Jake shook his head at Peters antics, but still shook the offered hand.

That’s how their new routine started. Whenever Peter was patrolling Jake was in the towers common room, on the sofa nearest to the window, phone to his ear, watching TV and shooting whatever targets needed. Of course, he made sure they were non-lethal. Even if he didn’t believe in that, he was helping out Peter there, it wasn’t his own agenda. He didn’t feel a particularly big pull to do what Peter did. Run around and risk his life to protect people. His only goal was to protect Peter because the idiot kept putting his life on the line and that supremely annoyed Jake. Which was how Wanda found him one day.  
‘’What are you doing?’’, She asked him.  
He didn’t look turn to look at her as he answered. ‘’Blasting people with magic shots.’’  
‘’Why?’’  
‘’Peter’s on patrol. And I can hit anything from here.’’  
Wanda just gave him a confused look. ‘’But why?’’  
‘’If I can’t stop the guy from playing hero, at least I can make sure he doesn’t meet an untimely end just yet.’’  
‘’Do you do that often?’’  
‘’Pretty regularly now, yeah. What about you? Don’t you miss it?’’  
She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘’Miss what?’’  
‘’Being free. Being able to do what you want. Go wherever you want. Not being on the governments leash.’’  
‘’What are you trying to say?’’  
‘’Don’t you want out? Be free?’’  
‘’I’m asking what your point is.’’  
‘’And I am asking for an answer to my question first.’’  
She took a deep breath. ‘’Yes. I do.’’  
Finally, he turned to look at her. ‘’Then I think we should have a talk. I’m finished now anyways.’’ He turned his microphone back on. ‘’Hey Pete, mind cutting this one short? Something came up. Mhm. Yeah let’s continue tomorrow. Yeah yeah. Enjoy your afternoon. Bye.’’  
He signalled her to sit down next to him. So, she did. And he told her, he told her everything. And when he was finished, she just said 2 words. ‘’I’m in’’. He looked at her. ‘’You sure? There’s no going back.’’  
‘’You are not going to involve Steve or Bucky, are you?’’  
He shook his head.  
‘’Then you can use some help.’’  
‘’I thought you didn’t trust me?’’  
‘’The verdict is still out on that, but I can monitor you better when I help you anyways. So, it’s win-win for me.’’  
‘’Guess we have a deal then.’’  
‘’When are you gonna take action?’’  
‘’In a week.’’  
‘’I’ll be ready then’’. She turned and walked towards the elevator.  
‘’Hey, Wanda?’’  
She stopped.  
‘’Don’t betray me. I don’t want to kill you, but I will if I have to.’’  
With a slight nod towards him, she entered the elevator and left. He just had to wait a few more days now. The next few days continued in his usual routine. Until he went to see Tony. Alice showed he was on his floor instead of the lab. So, he went there. He saw an open door and heard Pepper’s voice. So, he got curious. He had heard about Tony’s wife and daughter but somehow never met them since he arrived. Then again, he didn’t spend his time actively seeking out people he didn’t know. Dealing with people was exhausting. He rather stuck to the people he already knew. Apparently, Pepper was reading her a story. He listened in for a bit.  
‘’And the dragon asked the boy what his name was. ‘I don’t have one’, the boy answered. ’That is why I went on this journey. I wanted a name. Can you tell me where I can get a name?’. The dragon looked at him and gently laid a paw on his shoulder. ‘If you want to, I can give you a name. I had one in mind ever since I laid my eyes on you the first time.’ The boy nodded at him, smile on his face. And from there on he had a name, he was known as-‘’  
‘’Jacob…’’, Jake whispered. And the memories rushed in. Memories that he tried to keep at bay at all times. Memories that he pushed down whenever they welled up. Memories of a small, beautiful city. Of the sun. Of friendship, and happiness and love. Of flashes of white, quiet stories, peaceful days and lazily traded kisses. And of fire, of blood, of limbs being torn apart, of loss, and of red. So much red. So much everything got tainted by it, blood splatters and fires destroying everything he treasured, everything he had, everything he-  
‘’Hey, snap out of it!’’  
Someone was talking to him, but he couldn’t recognize the voice. He could still see the blood, feel the pain. Feel how easily they tore apart under him, how easy it was to paint the walls red, make them pay the price for taking from him, taking his sun from him, and leaving him cold. Cold that didn’t disappear even when he made it all burn. Fire that promised warmth but only brought destruction. Suddenly, he felt warmth. He felt…  
‘’Hey, it’s okay. I’m here as long as you need, okay?’’  
He could feel arms around him. That voice…it calmed him. He opened his eyes. He was sitting on the floor, back to the wall. And Peter was hugging him while Pepper and Tony were standing around them, watching it with worried expressions.  
‘’What happened?’’, he asked. Speaking was hard.  
‘’FRIDAY alerted me. You had some kind of breakdown all of a sudden.’’, Tony said.  
‘’That story. Where…?’’  
Pepper crouched down next to him. ‘’It’s a pretty famous children’s book. It’s about a boy that goes on a journey to find a name. The author was a teen as well, which makes it even more remarkable. The city where he lived got caught in a forest fire, but he sent his stories to a publisher before. They ended up being a huge hit all around the world.’’  
‘’Not a forest fire’’, Jake whispered.  
‘’I know you’re confused-‘’, Tony said with a frown.  
‘’I was there. Not a forest fire’’, Jake said once again.  
Realization dawned on Tony’s face. ‘’You knew that guy?’’  
The pity in his voice made Jake sick. He stood up, and went for the elevator, back to his room in Steve’s apartment. He knew they were both at Bucky’s right now. Only when he arrived, he noticed he wasn’t alone.  
‘’Why are you still here?’’, he asked Peter.  
‘’Didn’t want to leave you alone when you’re obviously agitated.’’  
Jake just grunted at that and faceplanted into the bed.  
He felt a hand go through his hair. It was soothing. It also reminded him of what he wanted to forget. He slapped the hand away. Peter looked at him, hurt visible in his eyes. Jake sighed. He sat up and patted the place next to him. Peter carefully sat down.  
‘’I am not going to talk about it.’’  
‘’You don’t have to’’, Peter said.  
They spent the evening quietly, watching TV and resolutely not talking about anything of importance. As more time passed, Jake calmed down.  
‘’You went through a lot, huh?’’, Peter asked.  
Jake let out a bitter laugh. ‘’You could say that.’’  
‘’You never talked to anyone?’’  
‘’Trust isn’t exactly something someone like me gives easily.’’  
‘’But you trust me, right?’’, Peter asked.  
Jake took a breath, prepared to answer, when he noticed that he did. Sometime over the last weeks Peter had managed to earn his trust.   
‘’I do’’, he quietly said.  
‘’I wouldn’t judge you; you know? So, you can tell me if you want to. Anything you can’t tell anyone else.’’  
Jake looked at him, searching his eyes for something. Anything. He leaned back again. Peter just looked at him expectantly. And Jake…he didn’t know what to say. No words seemed to fit. So, he surged forward and slotted his lips against Peter’s.  
The other teen made a surprised sound at first, but then he pulled Jake closer and kissed back. They didn’t talk again that evening. They just made out and watched Tv until they fell asleep. Communicating only via small gestures. Jake hadn’t felt so much at peace in a long time. He knew he shouldn’t have done that. That he couldn’t pull Peter into this, into his problems. But right now, he wanted to be selfish. He needed him. He would worry about anything else tomorrow, he decided as he drifted off to sleep.


	18. How to gracefully cope with final preparations

Jake woke up draped over Peter on the sofa. He stood up quickly. He checked his phone. It was 6 a.m. That meant he slept at least double the time he usually did. It wasn’t like him to mess up like that. He was lucky there was nothing planned for this night, he chastised himself. He went to the common room. The apartment was silent. That meant Steve again hadn’t slept here. Recently he had taken to sleep in a guest room in Bucky’s apartment. Jake just wished they would get over themselves and just share a bed already. He would take that matter into his own hands eventually, but there were bigger battles to fight at the moment. Especially when he had to untangle the mess of his relationship with Peter first. Because as much as he told everyone they were friends, apparently there was more to it, since he threw himself at the other teen as soon as he was in distress. He grimaced at the thought. He didn’t have time to waste on this. Not when he was so close. Just 2 more days. 2 days to get through. He had no time for this.  
‘’I can hear you thinking from over there’’, Peter said calmly.  
Jake flinched. He was so deep in thought he didn’t notice the other teen approaching.  
He forcibly relaxed and turned around. ‘’A lot has happened.’’  
‘’I let it drop yesterday because you were so upset. But we need to talk about this.’’  
‘’Talk about what?’’, Jake asked, expression carefully blank.  
‘’Yesterday. Why you were so upset. And the kiss. And what happened after. And what all of it meant.’’  
‘’I didn’t know.’’, Jake said.  
Peter looked at him in confusion. ‘’Knew what?’’  
‘’That I had feelings for you. That you meant something to me. That it wasn’t just friendship. I never had a friend before. So, I’m sorry I suddenly threw myself at you. I just needed the comfort. But I’m not gonna pretend I regret it.’’  
Peter’s expression turned thoughtful. ‘’Well that was surprisingly easy.’’  
‘’Please. I’ve seen Steve and Bucky. I don’t need a repeat of that in my life. It’s painful to watch.’’  
Peter let out a small laugh at that.  
‘’So where does that leave us?’’  
Jake sighed.  
‘’Something is gonna happen. Something big. In 2 days. After this is over, we can talk. I can tell you everything then.’’  
‘’And I guess you cannot talk about it beforehand.’’  
‘’No.’’  
‘’Why?’’  
Jake gave him a bitter smile at that.  
‘’Because you could talk me out of it.’’  
Peter’s eyes widened in surprise at the admission. Then he nodded.  
‘’Okay.’’  
‘’Okay?’’, Jake asked, surprised.  
‘’Okay.’’  
Jake took a thorough look at the other teen. Trying to find a hint of what he was thinking in his eyes, in his expression. When he couldn’t find anything but understanding, he conceded.   
‘’Okay.’’  
He stepped closer to the other teen, still watching him, assessing. When Peter opened his mouth, he pulled him into a deep kiss. Whenever he tried to say something, he shut him up like that, until they had wasted away another hour. He then stepped back coyly. Peter was staring at him, mouth slightly swollen, eyes glazed over.  
‘’I’ll call you’’, Jake said, before leaving the apartment.  
He went to Bucky’s apartment. Both super soldiers were awake already. Steve getting ready for his run, while Bucky was half asleep at the table. He perked up when he saw Jake enter.  
‘’Good morning’’, he said, voice laden with sleep.  
Jake sauntered over, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. ‘’Morning’’, he said.  
Steve watched the exchange with a small smile.  
‘’I was about to go running with Sam, wanna come with? I know you said you don’t like it much but-’’  
‘’I’m leaving’’, Jake said.  
The soldiers stared at him in shock.  
‘’What do you-‘’  
‘’It’s not for long. Just a few days. I have to take care of something.’’  
‘’Let us help you then’’, Steve argued. ‘’We are your parents, protecting you is our job! And that’s just on top of being heroes!’’  
‘’This is not your fight to fight. It’s mine. And besides, I won’t be in any danger. It’s just negotiations.’’  
‘’Negotiations.’’, Bucky stated blankly.  
‘’Yeah, for White Industries. Blake called in a favour. I need to head over to France to get a contractor to sign. He’s a stubborn son of a bitch apparently but we need him.’’  
Bucky sighed. ‘’Just stay safe, okay?’’  
Jake grinned at them. ‘’I always am.’’  
He hugged both of them, gave them a kiss to the cheek and left.  
Steve looked after him, fondness and worry mixed in his gaze.  
‘’That boy is a whirlwind’’, he said.  
‘’So are you’’, Bucky answered with a smirk.  
Steve rolled his eyes at that. ‘’Yeah because you are so much better at staying still and doing what you’re told.’’  
Bucky just gave him an unimpressed stare.  
Steve threw up his hands in the air and exclaimed ‘’You just hide it better! Stop giving me that look.’’  
Now it was Bucky’s turn to roll his eyes.  
‘’I can actually follow orders I don’t like, unlike you. You were every superior’s nightmare. That’s why they made your rebellious ass a leader when they founded the Avengers.’’  
Steve just stared at him incredulously, mouth agape.  
Bucky held out for a few seconds before he doubled over laughing.  
‘’Oh shit, Stevie, your expression, I can’t-‘’, he wheezed, dissolving into another laughing fit.  
Steve just gave him an annoyed glare at that, but couldn’t hold that expression for long before dissolving into laughter himself.  
‘’You’re such a jerk, do you know that?’’, he laughed.  
‘’Better than being such a punk’’, Bucky snarked back. They dissolved into laughter again.

When his plane landed in France, he was ready. It was the last part he needed. He turned to Wanda, who was sitting across of him.   
‘’Are you ready?’’  
‘’Always’’  
They headed out of the plane and into a cab. They hadn’t brough any luggage with them, everything would be supplied at the various safe houses Blake had organized all over the world.  
‘’So, what’s the plan?’’, she asked.  
‘’Remember the Battle of New York? There was a lot of alien tech left over after it. Of course, most everything was taken by SHIELD, but some of it, some made it to the black market. These weapons have cores that can store a lot of energy. More than anything made on this planet could. We have 2 days to collect them all. Thankfully they have all been purchased by dubious people, so no need to hold back. Those guys are up to no good anyways. And make sure no one recognizes you. The government could screw us over if they knew the Scarlet Witch is out there acting against the rules of the Accords, playing vigilante.’’  
She just nodded thoughtfully.   
‘’So those are gonna be the energy source for the towers? Are there even enough of them?’’  
‘’We don’t need as much energy as those things can store. We can split them. We still need all of them. The power in the staff…. there are not many things that could hold that kind of energy.’’  
She smiled a little. ‘’So much trouble for some batteries.’’  
He also had to smile at that thought. ‘’A bit simplified but true. Well, if you want to change the world, you have to use powers that are not from this planet sometimes.’’  
The car stopped at their destination.  
‘’We split here. Blake will coordinate where you have to go next. Good luck.’’  
She looked at him. ‘’I know we are changing the world here. But if you get hurt, Bucky and Steve wouldn’t forgive me. So, stay safe.’’  
‘’I will.’’  
She gave him a searching look. Finally, she nodded and left the car. He told the driver their knew destination, and away they drove.  
Those two days had been hectic. He had killed a lot in these 2 days. He hadn’t saw any need to show mercy to these people, and since he couldn’t let anyone know about him anyways, he could kill two birds with one stone.  
He left another bloody mafia house, sirens in the background and core in hand. By now he was in Romania. And he obtained the last core. Which meant it was time to return to New York.  
When he landed In New York, Wanda and Blake were waiting for him at the airport. The two of them had become fast friends during the hunt for the cores. He was glad about it. They both could use more friends.  
‘’Well then, ladies.’’, Jake said. ‘’Let’s get the cameras rolling.’’  
They were quiet on the way to New York’s White Tower. Blake had been building these towers all over the world. There was one in every major city, all over the world, and in rural areas. They had been set up in a way where there wasn’t a tower in walking distance anywhere in the world besides non-populated areas. Even when he was frozen, Blake had believed in him. Believed in his plan. A plan that was made before the Accords, with vastly different circumstances in mind. A plan that had needed a lot of tweaking. But the towers, they stayed a constant. They were a symbol, of their trust, of their bond. A symbol of the change they were trying to bring over the world. And as he took a deep breath, readying himself for the start of the most important speech of his life, he was grateful. And he was ready.  
‘’Hello, citizens of the world. I am the creator of Alice, and this time, I am here to speak to all of you myself. A few of you might know me as Jacob White, the co-owner of White Industries. However, I have recently taken on a new name, and under this name I shall talk to all of you now. My name is Jacob Ryan Barnes-Rogers. And I am here to tell you, that the world as you all knew it has changed. The balance of power has shifted. It is no more.


	19. How to gracefully cope with your child taking over the world

Bucky and Steve were sitting on the couch and watching a cooking show, when suddenly the screen flicked over. When Jake’s face appeared, Bucky gave his friend a surprised look.   
‘’Did you know about this?’’  
Steve shook his head. ‘’ Guess we’ll now find out what all the secrecy was about.’’  
Bucky turned the volume on the TV up. He noticed Natasha and Clint entering the room, sitting down to watch with them but didn’t acknowledge their presence. There were more important things right now. Like the hyphenated last name their son just used. Just the sound of that made him feel all warm inside and almost sent him spiralling again.  
‘’The world as we know it had been changing for years now. We just haven’t acknowledged it. Because if we had, there had to be change. And change did happen. But it happened mostly behind closed doors. And the epitome of that, were the Sokovia accords. Something that the general public got sold as the solution for all the problems. A set of international laws with vast effects, that the public did not get sufficient information on. And why would they. It was easier to close their eyes. The amount of people with power is still very low. Most people are not affected by this. When Captain Rogers, my father, fought against this law, they hushed him. They forced him into early retirement, still acting as a symbol to act for the general public like everything was okay. Forcing him to watch while they systematically supress people with powers. Estranging them from their communities, locking them away, until they have no other choice than work for the government to keep a semblance of freedom. I have been born in a lab. As long as I can remember, I was forced to do the bidding of others. HYDRA had me for all my life. Yet I destroyed them. You all remember my little message earlier, don’t you?’’ He smirked a little at that. ‘’HYDRA is gone forever. No survivors. That is what I had to do to earn my freedom. Yet, how could I ever hope to be free in this world, where the accords exist? How could any of us, that are different? That don’t conform to the norms, that the people around us value so much? Solving this problem, was a harsh task. I still do not believe my solution is perfect. But it is the one with the least amount of bloodshed involved. And I hope that counts for something.’’ He let out a sigh at that. ‘’ Anyways, I’m getting off track here. What I want to provide, is a safe space. A space where everyone is welcome, can live outside the grasp of the governments. Our very own paradise. Where no one can suppress us. At the beginning of this, I introduced myself. Yet, when I left HYDRA’s grasp, I did not know my parents. Which is why back then, I was known as Jacob White. Together with my sister, we built up White Industries to the giant it is now. There is no company that could hope to rival our weapons and armour. Which is why as of now, White Industries will stop trading with all it’s partners. No more weapons or armour will be sold. And the White Towers, that have now been built all over the world, are now declared independent territories. Anyone entering them, can stay indefinitely if they so wish. The towers are AI controlled and entirely self-sufficient. Rooming and food will be provided for everyone going there, however there is work to be done, which is expected of long-term residents. In return they will get a generous wage, so they can get whatever else they wish to have. Of course, you can leave the towers at any time you wish, and return as well. A lot of governments will probably be upset by that. They might try to attack the towers. I’m only warning you once. White Industries has been keeping their most potent weapons to themselves for years. We will eradicate any attackers. No mercy. Each tower is sufficiently armed to delete the country it is in from the map. I do not wish to take over any governments. Just continue as it were. From today on, White Industries declares their own country. Elysion, a sanctuary for the people that need it. Of course, I realize not everyone who wants to go actually can. If you need assistance just say ‘Alice, Elysion, help’’ near any device with a microphone with internet connection. A safe passage for you will then be arranged as fast as possible.’’ Suddenly he tensed a little. ‘’ Apparently some fools did not listen to my warning.’’ The camera cut to the outside of the tower, which was surrounded by fighter jets and helicopters. ‘’I’m giving you one last chance to retreat’’ Jake’s voice could be heard loud and clear outside the tower. The jets opened fire. A blue wave emitted from the tower at the same time, and vaporized the bullets as well as any attacking vehicles. It took less than a second, no traces of the jets or their pilots were left. The camera cut back to Jake. ‘’Try that again, and it will happen again. As it stands, no one can defend against our weapons. So, accept the new world order and live, or fight and die. Those are your only choices. We are not interested in fighting you, but we will always defend against people that try to take our freedom, our dreams away.’’  
The transmission suddenly ended. The cooking show was on again, like nothing had happened. He turned off the TV. Thoughts were buzzing in his head. He didn’t notice he was having a panic attack until he found himself in Steve’s arms, the blond whispering quiet reassurances into his hair while stroking it.

He separated quickly and stood up. ‘’Let’s go.’’  
Steve gave him a worried look. ‘’Buck…’’  
‘’I said let’s go’’  
‘’And where exactly would you try to go?’’, Tony asked.  
Bucky hadn’t noticed him entering. He probably did during his panic attack.  
‘’Find him. Talk to him. Ask him why he kept it all a secret.’’  
‘’I’m noticing a distinct lack of ‘’stop him’’ in your list.’’  
Bucky gave him a challenging glare at that. ‘’That’s because I won’t.’’  
A few tense moments passed, before Tony finally relented.  
‘’I won’t support this nonsense. But I have a child to worry about. Last time we fought ended bad for all of us. So, I won’t interfere. But think about what you are doing here. You are on the wrong side. This is gonna result in chaos. Those soldiers that died today, they were innocent. They just served their country. And he had them slaughtered in seconds, with no bodies to bury.’’  
Bucky clenched his fists at that. ‘’No progress without sacrifice’’, he whispered.  
‘’What?’’, Steve asked warily.  
‘’That’s what they used to teach at HYDRA. They taught him as well. He’s taking the route of the least bloodshed I’d guess, and that means if he has to make sacrifices now to prevent a big loss of lives later, he will take it. It’s logical. He’s just calculating it. They mean nothing to him after all.’’  
‘’And how many lives will it take?’’, Nat asked quietly.  
‘’That’s what we need to find out’’, Steve said.  
He had that determined look in his eyes that was part of his whole Captain Persona. It always inspired confidence in Bucky. Confidence that he would right everything. That Bucky could just rely on him and follow him.  
‘’Let’s go to White Tower then.’’  
‘’I’m out.’’, Tony said. ‘’I’m not getting involved with this.’’  
‘’It’s probably for the best if it’s just you two that talk to him. Me and Clint will come as backup in case you need us.’’  
‘’Does anyone know where Wanda is?’’, Steve asked.  
‘’Miss Maximoff said that she had some private business to attend to for a few days’’, FRIDAY supplied helpfully from the ceiling.  
‘’Let’s go then’’

When they arrived at the tower a lot of press was standing in front of it. As soon as the Avengers were spotted the hushed whispers began that soon turned into a cacophony of shouted questions. They quickly barrelled their way through the masses and entered the foyer of the tower. The inside was…all white like the name suggested. Sleek, modern designs, that were also very simple. The foyer was quite empty besides having a few couches, a few tables and elevators. There were also some touch screens built into the wall instead of a reception. As soon as they entered, a voice greeted them from the ceiling.  
‘’Welcome to White Tower. I presume you all want to talk to Jacob?’’  
‘Alice’, Bucky thought. He should have seen that one coming.  
‘’Can you take us up to him?’’  
‘’Of course, just enter the rightmost elevator. It goes right to the top.’’  
The elevator ride proceeded very quickly and quietly. They went up to the 99th floor in just a minute.  
The penthouse was beautiful, really. The upper half of the walls were all one-way mirrors to the outside. They looked around the foyer and saw a lot of different corridors.  
‘’Please take the 2d corridor to your left.’’, Alice supplied again.  
It took them around 15 minutes walking around the maze to reach their destination. When they entered the conference room, Jake was sitting at the table, facing a giant screen. The screen was turned off, probably a safety mechanism so people couldn’t see what whoever was in there was doing when they entered.  
‘’I have to say, I was expecting you earlier.’’  
‘’There were some misunderstandings at the tower.’’  
‘’Natasha and Clint are waiting outside the door as backup?’’  
Steve just nodded at that.  
‘’Bad planning to be honest. They can’t enter if I don’t want them to.’’  
‘’Do you plan to do anything that would require them entering?’’  
Jake smirked a little at that. ‘’That kinda depends on you, doesn’t it?’’  
‘’We’re just here to talk’’, Steve said calmly. ‘’We want to know why you did what you did.’’  
‘’Wasn’t I clear enough in the broadcast? But I guess I can answer some questions. So, ask away.’’  
Bucky looked the teen. The defiant glare in his eyes. His tense posture. He reminded him so much of Steve in that moment.  
‘’Why Ryan?’’, he asked.  
The teens eyes widened in surprise. Steve looked at him like he lost his mind.  
‘’You called yourself Jacob Ryan. You could have chosen any name. So why Ryan?’’  
The tension went out of his body at that. A sad smile appeared on his face. ‘’Nostalgia, I guess.’’  
And Bucky understood then. ‘’You loved him?’’  
‘’Never stopped. He was….my light. He taught me a lot of things. He made me believe I was worth something. That I was more than just an asset. He taught me to dream. And worst of all, he taught me to hope.’’  
‘’What happened?’’, Steve asked quietly.  
‘’He was living in a small country. It was divided in two fractions. The government and the rebels. The town he was living in was allied to the rebels, but there were only civilians there. The government had it destroyed. As a sign of power. There were no survivors.’’  
‘’So why are you going around killing innocent people then?’’  
Jake smiled at that. ‘’But I didn’t.’’  
‘’We saw the broadcast’’, Bucky said.’’ Those guys might have been soldiers but they were just following orders.’’  
Jake shook his head and sighed. ‘’You really don’t get it, do you? I’ve been planning this for a long time. There was no need for anyone to die. I just needed people to THINK someone had died.’’  
‘’These soldiers, they were your people?’’, Steve asked. ‘’That means you had a mole somewhere up high in the government. Otherwise you couldn’t have gotten only your people chosen for this mission. I already found it weird for fast the attack order came. That explains it.’’  
‘’So, you have our name, and the threat of White’s weapons. Do you really think that’s enough?’’ Bucky asked. ‘’They will ally and attack. And sure, you might be stronger and defend but then a lot of innocent people WILL die.’’  
‘’Just sit down and relax. Get Nat and Clint in here. I’m not finished and you should see this.’’  
The door opened at that. Nat and Clint stepped in, as well as… Peter.  
He wore a complicated expression. ‘’Please tell me you didn’t kill these soldiers for a show of power.’’  
Jake stared back at him. ‘’I didn’t. None of them died.’’  
‘’Okay’’, Peter said and sat down, features visibly relaxing.  
Suddenly the giant screen turned on.  
‘’Time for the show!’’, Jake said.  
‘In a turn of events, the Scarlet Witch apparently just raided a secret high security prison called ‘’The Raft’’ and freed a lot of prisoners there. The treatment of these prisoners had apparently been inhumane, since there was no previous recording of its existence. White Industries has confirmed working with the Scarlet Witch and leaked a lot of files on the prison. With dark secrets like these coming to light one has to wonder if turning away from the government might be the right choice after all. We can’t show any of the files but they are currently freely shared around the internet and can be accessed on our website as well. Multiple sources have already confirmed that these files are not fake and that the government is trying to hard to take them down, so we advise anyone that is interested to download them before reading’  
‘’Not bad’’, Nat said with an approving nod. ‘’That will shift the public opinion a lot, they just love sob stories, and wrongly imprisoned and mistreated prisoner make a hell of a sob story. What’s next?’’  
Jake grinned at that. ‘’The government will find someone that was in the Raft to tell the press that everything is fabricated. Of course, I already have everything to debunk that story. After that, public opinion of the government will drop even more, and they will have no choice but to acknowledge Elysion.’’  
‘’What about the rest of the world?’’, Peter asked.   
‘’We have built up White Industries to hold the monopoly on the weapon and armour industry. No one can hope to match us. So, we will graciously let any country with friendly relations to us buy our armour. Not the best kind of course, but good enough that no weapons on the market can properly pierce it.’’  
‘’And if one army has it, the others will want it too because of the advantage it gives them. That’s…’’ Steve said thoughtfully.  
‘’Devious, I guess. But also capitalising on human greed is a very reliable way to get to the goal. So, welcome to the new world. There’s no going back.’’


	20. How to gracefully cope with freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter chapter this time, i just started working full time so i have way less time on my hands now. I will still try to update whenever i can.

Living in White Tower was weird. After Jake had used their names for the sake of his plans there was no way they could go back to the Avengers tower, and their conversation had been cut short by an emergency meeting. Since then neither of them had so much as seen Jake, who was constantly busy getting things fixed around the country he built and was now heavily involved in politics. Bucky understood why he did it, without their name attached chances were people wouldn’t have taken a 16- year old serious, but the betrayal still stung. Of course, staying in Elysion also meant no more missions and Bucky was starting to get seriously bored. And taking out HYDRA guys was always good at distracting him from his own problems, something he got so used to he didn’t know what to do with himself now. So, he was spending his time in the kitchen, watching animal videos and observing Steve, who finally picked up his art again. Steve was antsy, just like him and had a lot of energy to burn. Bucky would have loved to offer to burn it off together, but since he couldn’t he had taken to encourage Steve to paint again. And today was the day it finally paid off. Steve gave him an unimpressed glare, having noticed the stares whenever he was looking away. Bucky just shrugged In response and pressed play on the next video. A few hours passed like that, in silence, before Bucky gave up and stood up. ‘’I’m going for a walk’’, he said, and left without waiting for an answer. The tower was really something, he thought. He knew they were inside, but looking up to the blue sky above him and feeling the sun on his skin astonished him every time. He just leisurely walked through the place, watching people, until he reached an elevator and took it up to the penthouse. When the doors opened he found himself facing Jake.  
‘’I thought you were in a meeting?’’, he asked.  
‘’It got cancelled, last second.’’  
They fell silent again, tension growing heavy.  
‘’Do you want to come in?’’  
‘’Yeah.’’  
They walked until they reached Jake’s private rooms. The apartment looked cold, clinical. You could see no one lived here often. It felt more like a hotel room than a living space. Jake noticed Bucky’s glances and shrugged.  
‘’I travel a lot. These apartments look the same in every tower, so I don’t forget where everything is.’’  
Silence filled the room once again after they sat down.  
‘’You shouldn’t have done that’’, Bucky blurted out.  
‘’Pardon me?’’  
‘’Used our names. Like that.’’  
‘’I am pretty sure I only used my own name’’, Jake said with a defiant glare.  
‘’Of course, you did’’, Bucky said sarcastically.  
‘’What is this really about?’’  
‘’We had to leave everything behind because of you! That’s what this is about!’’  
Jake’s expression morphed into a cruel smirk at that.  
‘’You sure are good at lying to yourself. Don’t you get sick of it?’’  
‘’What are-‘’  
‘’You know what? I’ll tell you. I’m done with watching your bullshit. Because you can say a lot of things, but I know for a fact you don’t give a damn about that life you head. Pretending everything is perfect, that nothing had changed since you fell. You two are so good at playing your roles you perfectly convinced not only each other but even yourselves.’’  
Bucky narrowed his eyes at that. ‘’I don’t know what you think to know, but I was content in the tower. We had a life’’  
‘’On the leash of the government. How great’’, Jake said, disdain in his voice.  
‘’That doesn’t mean you can just come in and get to-‘’  
‘’Oh please. Get to what? Burst that precious bubble of yours? Where you can stay at Steve’s side as his best friend and you two grow old together? Where you can just ignore all your problems because it’s more convenient and you had figured out how to trick our therapist into believing you are way better than you actually are? Or are you mad that I reminded you of the fact that Steve even gave up his own morals for you, playing the governments patriotic little puppet again, and selling the accords instead of war bonds? Because you know it, don’t you? You know he did it for you. That he would give you everything. And that scares the crap out of you so you would rather ignore it and just play pretend so nothing changes. Because if nothing changes nothing can go wrong, right?!’’  
Bucky visibly paled at that. ‘’You have no right-‘’  
‘’I’m your fucking son. If I can’t get you two to pull your heads out of your asses and see that you are the only people keeping yourselves from being happy no one can. So how about you use your newfound freedom to finally make that blonde puppy happy that has been running after you for years now, doing everything he can to make you happy. Because we both know he won’t make the first move, not when he is all you have and he is afraid you would say yes because you were afraid of losing him.’’  
Jake’s features softened.  
‘’I know I’m not with you guys for long. But you weren’t happy at the tower. And I wouldn’t have said what I said if I wasn’t sure that that guy is head over heels for you. So, stop being afraid of what could be and find some happiness. You owe him that. You owe yourself that. Show the world that even after everything HYDRA did, you still won. You got through and you got your happy ending. Just…stop running.’’  
Silence fell over them again, but this time it was a lot less tense.  
‘’How long ago had you prepared that speech?’’ Bucky asked finally.  
‘’Ever since I saw you two making heart eyes at each other during sparring. 5 days in a row. You guys are ridiculous.’’, Jake said, rolling his eyes.  
Bucky just stared at him for a few seconds before he started laughing hysterically. Jake just watched him, slack jawed for a few seconds, his corners of the mouth quirking, until he broke down himself and joined in. It was freeing in a way. Letting go of their grudges.

‘’I know you are my son but if you tell anyone about this, I WILL have to kill you’’, Bucky said breathless, before breaking down in giggles again.  
‘’And destroy my cold hearted, cool guy image? No way’’, Jake laughed before falling off the sofa. They looked at each other and had another laughing fit.

When they calmed down a bit, sitting on the sofa and drinking tea, Bucky said ’’I’ll tell him. But if I do it, I need to do it right.’’  
Jake straightened up. ‘’Oh my god you are going to propose, aren’t you?!’’  
‘’How-‘’  
Jake threw up his hands. ‘’How are you guys that ridiculous! You haven’t even dated yet!’’  
‘’So, you think he will say no?’’  
Jake sent him an unimpressed glare. ‘’Oh no I’m sure he will say yes. Because you two deserve each other. You are equally stubborn and stupid.’’  
‘’Hey!’’  
Jake fell back into the cushions with a dramatic sigh.  
‘’Okay. Tell me your plan to woo your guy. I’ll get you everything you want. You’ll go all out, won’t you?’’  
Bucky‘s grin was feral. ‘’Only the best for my best guy.’’  
‘’Just to make sure, you do know that you could just, you know? Ask him on a date. Be his boyfriend. Or, I don’t know get flowers and a ring and propose over dinner.’’  
‘’Boooring. Also, we already have a child. If I’m gonna do this, might as well make a honest man outta him.’’  
‘’How is this my life.’’  
‘’You pushed me to do this!’’  
‘’I told you to tell him you love him and take him out on a date not plan the biggest and most expensive proposal you can!’’  
‘’Hey, can you like, rent a volcano?’’  
Jake just smushed his face into the cushions and groaned while Bucky cackled in the background.


End file.
